Manhattan College Trustee
Vice President, Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Brother Robert J. Smith, FSC, Ph.D., is the newly named vice president of the Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. In this role, he will lead the university’s graduate schools, with campuses in Minneapolis and Nairobi, Kenya, and centers in Apple Valley, Rochester, Oakdale, Minnetonka, and numerous other locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Jamaica. He hopes to utilize the school’s Lasallian Catholic tradition to continue providing quality, affordable and creative educational opportunities to its adult students. A Saint Paul native and 1976 graduate of St. Mary’s, Brother Robert’s many roles at the school’s Winona campus include associate professor and chair of the Theology Department, associate dean for the School of Education, vice president of mission, and director for the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching. He also served as Dean of Christ the Teacher Institute for Education at the Saint Mary campus in Nairobi, Kenya. He previously served as vice president for academic affairs at Bethlehem University in Bethlehem, Palestine.
Brother Robert is a member of American Academy of Religion, the Catholic Theological Society of America, the College Theology Society and the Society of Christian Ethics. He holds a Ph.D. in moral theology from Marquette University, an M.A. in religious studies from United Theological Seminary. Brother Robert was elected to the Manhattan College Board in June 2002. He lives at the Christian Brothers Community in St. Paul.