We are delighted to welcome David Smedley, a higher education administrator, a Lutheran, and husband to Bishop Hughes as our guest preacher on Sunday, October 8th.
David Smedley (Master of Public Administration, 1987 – Temple University), a Philadelphia
native (Morrison elementary; Central High School 240th Class), is a higher education veteran
with over thirty years’ experience as a higher education administrator and adjunct instructor. A
compliance-based higher education administrator, Smedley has previously served as a director
of financial aid at Essex County College (Newark NJ), The Institute of World Politics (Washington DC), and Valley Forge Military Academy and College (Wayne PA). He was one of the first higher education administrators to be appointed to compliance-specific position within a student aid office in a ten-year service at The George Washington University as associatedirector for compliance and policy. Smedley has also previously served briefly as a policy analyst at The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. Smedley’s adjunct teaching focused on American government, comparative government, the intersection between urbanization, globalization, and culture.
Smedley earned a BA in History from Temple University in 1985. After briefly pursuing church
vocations, he returned to Temple to earn a master’s degree in public administration, and then
completed classwork within a doctoral program in political science. At Temple, he unwittingly
began his career in higher education. As an undergraduate, he served a significant part-time
assignment working for Temple’s main vice president, H. Patrick Swygert, and, occasionally, its
president, Peter J. Liacouras. During his master’s program, he served as a graduate assistant in the undergraduate admissions office, with occasional research assistance for the dean of
students. He moved to the financial aid office while enrolled in a doctoral program in political
science, during which he served a significant research assistant position working directly for the
director of financial aid, assisting the director in all facets of administration.
Smedley has been active in professional associations throughout his career, having served
previously as the vice president of the Pennsylvania Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators (PASFAA), during which, ex officio, he chaired of government relations
committee and met with several Members of Congress and their education legislative staffers.
He created and initially chaired a military education financing committee for the Eastern
Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (EASFAA). He previously served on a
working group on Post 911 GI Bill issues convened by the national Association of College and
University Business Officers (NACUBO). He has been a conference program reviewer for
NACUBO and for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and
served as an Editorial Board member for the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice
(NASPA) and the Journal of Student Financial Aid (when owned by NASFAA). Smedley has
given conference presentations at EASFAA, NACUBO, NASFAA, NJASFAA, PASFAA and
College Board professional meetings.
Smedley is married to the Rt Rev Carlye J Hughes, the eleventh bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. They reside in South Orange, NJ.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrsmedley
