President Smith holds a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of Southern California, an M.A. from the University of Connecticut, and a B.A. from Biola University. He taught for 15 years in higher education before co-founding Hildegard College. 

Dr. Smith describes education as an interplay between understanding and desire:

The premise of all education is that we don’t fully understand the things we love, and therefore that we also fail to love the things we ought to. Understanding, in the true sense, is more than knowledge or critical thinking. It entails grasping the causes of things — why they are what they are, where they come from, what they’re for. And it our awareness of what a thing is for that influences whether or not we desire it. Understanding and desire are like two arms climbing a ladder; one supports while the other reaches upward.

Dr. Smith reads, writes, and speaks about a variety of cultural topics, including the future of higher education, AI and learning, the psychology of intellectual growth, beauty and aesthetics, and moral thought.

He is the author of several books and multiple articles. Past and forthcoming titles include:

• The Lost Tradition of Beauty (InterVarsity 2027)

• Shakespearean Recognitions: Philosophies of the Post-Tragic (Routledge 2026)

• Literature and Religious Experience: Beyond Belief and Unbelief (Bloomsbury 2022)

• Face to Face in Shakespearean Drama: Ethics, Performance, Philosophy (Edinburgh 2019)

• Performance and Religion in Early Modern England: Stage, Cathedral, Wagon, Street (Notre Dame 2016)

You can read Dr. Smith’s blog at his free Substack here. 

President Smith also serves startups, organizations, and schools, helping them build innovative curricular programs, facilitating board training and institutional strategic planning, overseeing product and program development, installing assessment frameworks, and creating content programs.

He lives in Fullerton, CA, with his wife and three children.