{"id":132264,"date":"2026-01-26T16:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132264\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T16:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:18:12","slug":"meet-thomas-smith-usfsps-interim-regional-chancellor-the-crows-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132264\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Thomas Smith, USFSP\u2019s interim regional chancellor\u00a0 \u2013 The Crow’s Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"

A university-wide email from Rhea Law last October announced Smith\u2019s assignment to the role. Photo Courtesy of USF<\/p>\n

By Jasmin Parrado<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been more than two months since Thomas Smith, vice provost of academic affairs, became interim regional chancellor of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg after Christian Hardigree left for Texas A&M University-Victoria. And with an extensive academic background in human rights and international humanitarian law, Smith intends to apply his acumen as a researcher to his position.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI am rooted in that scholarly side of the academic experience, not really the administrative side,\u201d Smith told The Crow\u2019s Nest. \u201cSo, I bring to the higher education administration the viewpoint and understandings that you get from being in the classroom and being a researcher.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Working at USF St. Petersburg for more than 25 years, Smith\u2019s new role is not his first or only one at USF; he maintains his provost position and his seat at the university\u2019s leadership council.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith has been associate professor of political science since his first year at USF and was associate dean of the Judy Genshaft Honors College from 2020-2022. Since then, he has served as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at USF St. Petersburg. \u00a0<\/p>\n

As interim chancellor, Smith aims to continue encouraging strong student-faculty relations at the St. Petersburg campus, which is known for its community ties gained from smaller class sizes.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want students to cultivate close connections with faculty members and to do what we really do best here in St. Pete,\u201d Smith said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another objective on Smith\u2019s list is to introduce more degree programs to USF St. Petersburg. He looks forward to a new bachelor\u2019s program in nursing, which he believes can aid Florida\u2019s nursing shortage<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[USF St. Petersburg] is not just a beautiful campus and a beautiful place,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThere is a lot going on here on the academic side, and we\u2019ve got world-class faculty. So, we want to tell that story about the possibilities here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith himself has published articles in various human rights journals and has written two books: \u201cHuman Rights and War Through Civilian Eyes\u201d and \u201cHistory and International Relations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is also co-founder of the St. Petersburg World Affairs Council (SPWAC), and he was a member of the Board of Directors at the Florida Holocaust Museum from 2019 to 2025.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a human rights scholar, I recognize the inherent worth and dignity of each member of our campus community \u2014 faculty, staff and students,\u201d he told The Crow\u2019s Nest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To that end, Smith also wants to ensure that faculty members have sufficient facilities and infrastructure to conduct their research.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith is also an expert in foreign policy and Turkish politics. He said he comes from a family entrenched in academia \u2014 his father was a chaplain and professor at a college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI never really understood exactly what he did. But I thought, \u2018Well, certainly whatever I do, it won\u2019t be that,\u2019\u201d Smith said. \u201cFunny how things happen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After obtaining his undergraduate degree at William and Mary University in Virginia, Smith completed his PhD in foreign affairs at the University of Virginia. Initially, his plan was simple: get a master\u2019s degree and work for Virginia\u2019s state department in some capacity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Smith \u201cfell in love with the academic world.\u201d Thus, he landed his first job at Ko\u00e7 University in Istanbul as professor of International Relations. After three years, he met someone from USF St. Petersburg who was conducting research there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith had never been to Florida until he pursued a job at USF St. Petersburg. For him, it was a fortunate turn of events\u2014success in academia is often found where there are open career opportunities, he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Smith said it\u2019s been gratifying to see USF St. Petersburg \u201cblossom\u201d and become a hotspot destination in all facets, academic and metropolitan. In fact, he looks forward to infrastructural developments such as a new organic chemistry lab and the prospective Environmental and Oceanographic Sciences center on campus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Smith said he aims for faculty to be high achievers in their fields at USF St. Petersburg, he also wants students to feel and embody their role in a university that is a R1 institution part of the Association of American Universities<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to sit up a little straighter,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWork a little harder and feel engaged.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 34 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Written by: Jasmin Parrado<\/a> on January 26, 2026.
Last revised by: Julia Ferrara<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A university-wide email from Rhea Law last October announced Smith\u2019s assignment to the role. Photo Courtesy of USF…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-132264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-st-pete","9":"tag-st-pete-headlines","10":"tag-st-pete-news","11":"tag-st-petersburg","12":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","13":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}