Michael J. Smith, a former Westchester County legislator, was inaugurated last week as president of Berkeley College.
Smith was appointed president in June 2015, but was officially inaugurated at a ceremony on May 13 at the college’s campus in Woodland Park, N.J.
In front of a crowd of about 1,000, featuring administration, faculty and students from the school, Smith emphasized the power of each individual in helping students.
“Imagine how we could impact graduation rates if each member in the audience did whatever it would take to see just one more student graduate,” Smith said.
Berkeley College is a school of about 8,300 students across eight campuses. The three New York campuses are in Midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn and White Plains. The five in New Jersey are in Dover, Newark, Paramus, Woodbridge and Woodland Park.
Smith is a certified public accountant and holds a master’s of business administration degree from Fordham University Graduate School of Business. Over a 19-year career at Berkeley, he has held the titles of senior vice president, finance, and chief financial officer of BES Inc., the college’s corporate office.
Smith was elected to the Westchester County Board of Legislators twice and served from 2012 to 2015. He also served as the Valhalla Union Free School District Board of Education president from 2008 to 2011.
