Business Wire, December 12, 2005, Monday

Copyright 2005 Business Wire, Inc.
Business Wire

December 12, 2005 Monday 1:00 PM GMT

DISTRIBUTION: Business Editors; Education Writers

HEADLINE: National University Names Dr. Sharon P. Smith Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

DATELINE: LA JOLLA, Calif. Dec. 12, 2005

BODY:
National University System Chancellor Dr. Jerry C. Lee announced today the naming of Dr. Sharon P. Smith as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for National University and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for the National University System.
"Dr. Smith's distinguished academic expertise will be invaluable as we continue to move National University and the National University System into the future," said Dr. Lee.
Dr. Smith will be responsible for leadership of National's academic agenda, for its six schools, the National University library and the University's Divisions of Student Services and Extended Learning. In her role as Vice Chancellor, Dr. Smith also will serve as an important resource for the affiliates of the National University System. Dr. Smith will officially assume her responsibilities with National on April 1, 2006.
Dr. Smith joins National from Fordham University, where most recently she was Dean, Schools of Business and Dean of the Business Faculty. After gaining distinguished research, government and corporate experience, Dr. Smith was named dean of Fordham's undergraduate College of Business Administration in 1990. At the time, Dr. Smith was one of only 25 women deans in over 1,200 schools of business and the first woman named dean at a Jesuit business school.
In 2001, when she was named Dean of the Graduate School of Business Administration and of the Business Faculty, it was the first time both the graduate and undergraduate colleges had been placed under the permanent management of one dean.
In her role as dean, Dr. Smith directed operations and strategic planning for Fordham's undergraduate and graduate business colleges and executive programs on three campuses in metropolitan New York and at a top-ranking MBA program in Beijing, China. Fordham's colleges and programs featured a total enrollment of over 3,700 students worldwide and generated more than $74 million in annual tuition revenue domestically.
Dr. Smith also directed the major fund-raising activities of a dedicated development staff, setting goals for gifts and pledges and participation levels from business school alumni. Gifts and pledges over the last five years totaled $15 million, and participation rates for undergraduate and graduate alumni reached 16 and 7 percent, respectively.
Dr. Smith spent a total of 15 years as head of the University's undergraduate business program. She is currently on sabbatical serving as a Visiting Fellow at Cornell University's New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations (2005-06).
Dr. Smith's teaching experience includes service as Professor of Management Systems at Fordham (1992-2006); Visiting Senior Research Economist, Department of Economics at Princeton (1988-90); Adjunct Associate Professor of Economics at Drew University (1984); and Visiting Associate Professor of Labor Economics at Cornell University (1981).
In addition to her extensive academic achievements, Dr. Smith has enjoyed a distinguished corporate career. From 1982-88, she worked at American Telephone & Telegraph in New Jersey, where she served as District Manager in the areas of Corporate Strategy and Development, Labor Relations, and Economic Analysis Section. From 1976-82, she worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she was a senior economist and was in a special unit which helped resurrect the city's then nearly bankrupt economy.
Dr. Smith has participated in several distinguished affiliations and memberships, including: the American Association for Higher Education; American Economic Association; Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities/Business Deans of Jesuit Institutions; Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession; Fordham Center for Corporate, Securities, and Financial Law; Industrial Relations Research Association; Middle Atlantic Association of Colleges of Business Administration; and the Princeton Club of New York.
She has also served on the boards of: NASD; NASD Dispute Resolution; NASDAQ Stock Market Educational Foundation, Inc.; Partners in Health; Securities Industry Association; Security Traders Association (STA); Security Traders Association (STA) Foundation; and St. Barnabas Hospital.
Dr. Smith was valedictorian of Rutgers University's Class of 1970, where she graduated summa cum laude and earned her bachelor's degree in economics. She also holds a Ph.D. and master's, both in economics, from Rutgers.
For more information about Dr. Smith, National University or the National University System, contact David Neville at 858-642-8163 or visit www.nu.edu.
About National University
Founded in 1971, National University is the second-largest, nonprofit, accredited, private institution of higher learning in California, with the third-largest graduate program in the country. The University is unique because of its intensive one-course-per-month format and flexible online degree programs, which enable students to complete graduate and undergraduate programs in an accelerated time frame while maintaining family and work responsibilities. National University is headquartered in La Jolla and has more than 30 campuses in 13 major metropolitan areas throughout California, as well as in Henderson, Nevada, and Honolulu, Hawaii.
About the National University System
The National University System was established in 2001 to meet the emerging challenges and demands of education in the 21st century. The System is uniquely aligned to connect a diverse student population to a network of innovative educational programs that are relevant to their lives, careers, and the marketplace and are delivered in a format that respects competing life priorities. The National University System includes National University, National Polytechnic College of Engineering and Oceaneering, Spectrum Pacific Learning Company LLC, National University Virtual High School, California Medical Institute, and the National University Center for Human Advancement. The System is headquartered in La Jolla, California.



CONTACT: National University David Neville, 858-642-8163

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