Timothy L. Smith, provost of Anderson University in South Carolina, has been elected the fourth president of the University of Mobile (UMobile), effective May 16.
The UMobile board of trustees elected Smith in a special called meeting the morning of April 11 on the Mobile campus of the 54-year-old Alabama Baptist school.
Smith, who holds two doctorates, two master’s degrees and is licensed by the South Carolina Board of Nursing and the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, has extensive experience in Christian higher education and the field of health care education, according to UMobile officials.
Smith’s vision
Smith, 52, said he is coming to UMobile to listen, collaborate, partner and build.
“The University of Mobile has a great foundation, with many building blocks already above the foundation,” he said. “I believe there are huge opportunities to serve the community and partner with so many organizations. My methodology in leading as president will be a very collaborative approach.”
Smith said he will focus on building upon the heritage of faith at UMobile, while working toward even stronger academics with continued growth in the spiritual formation of students.
“When I looked at the University of Mobile, what I saw very quickly and what I heard very quickly is that it is an institution that it is rock-solid in its faith on God’s Word, in that we depend on Him and we are led by Him as we continue moving forward,” he said. “My experience in academia is that there are a lot of changes you can make in an institution, but if an institution has wandered from its faith, it is very hard to bring the institution back to that.
“The University of Mobile has such a strength in the intentionality of its faith-based approach to Christian higher education. That’s the No. 1 thing that attracted me,” Smith said.
The Smiths are members of Taylors First Baptist Church, Taylors, South Carolina, where he serves as guest teacher in the Life Group while focusing on the development of care groups throughout the church. Previously he has taught young married classes at church and led annual missions trips to the Dominican Republic.
Introduction of Smith
Smith succeeds Mark Foley, who announced October 20150 that he would step down after 18 years as president. The board of trustees launched a nationwide search for the next president in January.
UMobile board of trustees chair Fred Wilson, former partner in P.J. Lumber Co. in Mobile, introduced the president-elect at a press conference April 11 at the Harrigan Center on the UMobile campus. Joining in the introduction were Terry Harbin, chair of the presidential search committee, and Foley.
Wilson said, “Dr. Tim Smith will be a president for every constituency of the university. He is a tireless worker and a great visionary with a broad range of experience.”
Previous roles
Prior to serving as provost of Anderson University, Smith was dean of the School of Nursing at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, where he oversaw a 79 percent expansion in enrollment and founded the Center for Excellence in Healthcare Practice that included a nurse residency program for five hospitals.
Harbin said the search committee recommended Smith for three primary reasons.
“He is unbelievably well-qualified through his academic preparation. Secondly, he has practical experience. He has done in other places what we need done at the University of Mobile. And thirdly, he has demonstrated humility,” he said. “A man who has accomplished what he has accomplished in life to come in and be a down-to-earth, Christ-centered servant is amazing.”
“We saw in Dr. Smith an absolute commitment to academic excellence in faculty, staff and students. I think the bar will be raised significantly,” Harbin added.
Family information
Smith said he and his wife, Penney, are excited about the opportunity. She is a health care administrator consultant, serving as chief quality officer and helping hospitals with health care regulatory compliance. The couple has two children: daughter Ashley Wainscott, 24, who lives in Jackson, Tennessee, with her husband, Alex; and son Blake Smith, 21, a junior at Clemson University studying engineering.
Foley said he and the board of trustees have been working toward the goal of having a new president in place, with a planned strategy for a successful hand-off of leadership.
“Marilyn and I are delighted to welcome Tim and Penney to the University of Mobile family,” he said. “We have invested 18 years of our lives into this special place, and I can think of no better person to lead the university to even greater things than Dr. Tim Smith.”
Academic background
Smith holds a Ph.D. in leadership and a master of arts in theological studies, both from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky; a PhD. in nursing (anesthesia) from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Graduate College; a master of science in nursing from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Nursing; a diploma in nurse anesthesia from the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine; a bachelor of science in nursing from Memphis State University; and a diploma in nursing from Baptist Memorial Hospital School of Nursing.
His dissertation for the Ph.D. in leadership was “A Study of Factors that Predict the Success of Christ-Centered Higher Educational Institutions: A Mixed Method Study.” His Ph.D. in nursing dissertation was on “The Evaluation of Auditory Evoked Potentials and Psychological Priming Techniques as Indicators of Implicit Memory Formation During General Anesthesia” with an emphasis in anesthesia with foci in neuroanatomy and physiology. His thesis for the M.S.N. was on “Effect of Propofol and Desflurane on Recall During Anesthesia.”
Smith has held a variety of academic positions, from assistant professor to provost. He was at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, College of Nursing, from 1997 to 2004 and at Union University from 2005 to 2014.
He joined Anderson University in 2014 as vice president of strategic initiatives and special associate to the provost, becoming provost in 2015. Since 2014 he has served as adjunct professor in the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry at Southern Seminary.
He is the author of numerous scholarly articles as well as book reviews and research abstracts.
Professional accomplishments
Smith has a reputation as a visionary leader with business acumen and as a developer of academic programs with an ability to enhance revenues while providing a strong educational process.
As dean and professor of the School of Nursing at Union University, he grew the program over nine years from approximately 400 pre-nursing and nursing students and 17 faculty/staff to 747 students and 55 faculty/staff, becoming the largest faith-based nursing school in the nation.
He was responsible for the day-to-day operations of Anderson University, which at 3,200 students is more than twice the size of UMobile. While there, he led the effort to establish the university as a leader in the health sciences and worked with administration and faculty to expand other educational programs to meet the needs of the region.
Foley’s time as president
Smith will build upon significant transformations that marked Foley’s administration. Among those are an intentional integration of a Christian worldview into all aspects of academics, campus life and university operations.
During Foley’s tenure, the university invested $44.8 million in capital projects, started online academic programs, built residence halls and doubled the residential capacity to 734, created the Center for Performing Arts and the humanities Honors Program, and developed an active Campus Life program with extensive opportunities for mentoring, leadership development, service, missions and more.
(UMobile)
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