Staff and Leadership
Matthew J. Smith, Ph.D.
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 ten years at Azusa Pacific University before founding Hildegard College. His scholarship is on medieval and renaissance literature and especially the works of Shakespeare, Milton, Herbert, Donne, and late medieval drama. Dr. Smith is the author and editor of four books: Performance and Religion in Early Modern England: Stage, Cathedral, Wagon, Street (Notre Dame), Face to Face in Shakespearean Drama: Ethics, Performance, Philosophy (Edinburgh), Literature and Religious Experience: Beyond Belief and Unbelief (Bloomsbury), and a recently finished manuscript: Shakespearean Recognitions: Philosophies of the Post-Tragic. He is also an editor of the journal Christianity & Literature and has guest-edited three special issues: The Sacramental Text Reconsidered, Sincerity, a Literary History, and The Future of Christianity and Literature in Literary Studies.
Dr. Smith founded Hildegard College in 2022 with the conviction that higher education needs a reset. Where typical universities are growing ever larger into multi-versities, abandoning the traditional liberal arts and giving students a predominantly anonymous learning experience, Dr. Smith argues that the future of quality education, especially Christian education, is focused, tight-knit, rigorous, and recommitted to the classics of the liberal arts tradition. His vision for Hildegard College is to create an environment where young people can explore the riches of the classical tradition while also exploring and gaining experience in different areas of work—part monastery and part startup incubator. Mentorship, deep learning, and personal formation are the bedrock of a classical education.
President Smith lives in Fullerton with his wife and three children. He serves on the boards of Veritas Classical Academy and of the Classic Learning Test. When he isn’t teaching, he cooks, plays soccer, trains in jiu jitsu, mountainbikes, plays with his dog, and writes.
Christy Mathews, Ph.D.
Dr. Mathews is Dean of Enrollment and Student Services at Hildegard College.
She obtained a B.A. in English Literature from Biola University and the Torrey Honors Institute, an M.A. in Leadership and Organizational Studies from Azusa Pacific University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Regent University. She has served in Christian higher education enrollment management, academic advising, and student services for 16 years.
Dr. Mathews is passionate about the arts, epic poetry, hero narratives, and the concept of grit. A native Southern Californian, she enjoys traveling and all manner of outdoor adventures with her friends and family.
Kim Russell, B.A.
Kim is Hildegard’s Admissions Counselor and Housing Coordinator.
She earned her B.A. in Liberal Studies along with her teaching credential from Vanguard University. She has orchestrated city-wide after-school and summer programs for children K-12 and has directed children’s and youth ministries in various churches across southern California.
Kim has been joyfully homeschooling her four children since 2012 and believes strongly that “the object of education is to teach us to love what is beautiful.” For over a decade, Kim and her husband have been actively involved with Ronald McDonald House Charities and more recently have opened their home as resource parents in the foster care system.