Molly Easo Smith (born 1958 in Chennai, India) is an Indian-American professor and scholar of Shakespeare and Renaissance drama, and academic administrator. Biography Born in Chennai (formerly Madras) in India, Dr. Smith graduated from Ethiraj College for Women and Madras Christian College in the University of Madras, with BA and MA degrees in English, respectively, and from Auburn University with a PhD in English Literature in 1988. Smith has written two books and several articles on Shakespeare and Renaissance drama. Her research and teaching interests include the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Shakespeare, Women in Drama, and the development of theatre. She has held faculty posts at a number of colleges, including Ithaca College, St. Louis University, the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and Stephen F. Austin State University. She served as the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Seton Hall University, Provost at Wheaton College, and two years as the president of Manhattanville College. Smith served on the Board of Trustees at Fairleigh Dickinson University and on the Executive Committee of the International Association of University Presidents, where she led an initiative to develop women as academic leaders globally. She was recognized by the Westchester Business Council as "Businesswoman of the Year" at the annual Awards Banquet in April 2011. She was also recognized for her leadership in education by the National Federation of Indian Americans and by the Kerala Center. She was featured in the New York Times as one among a handful of foreign-born presidents of US Colleges and Universities. While at Seton Hall, she received a vote of no confidence from a minority of the college of arts & sciences faculty after releasing a Seton Hall professor from administrative duties. From 2006 to 2008, she served as the provost of Wheaton College in Massachusetts and served as the eleventh President of Manhattanville College from 2009 to 2011. At the end of her first year at Manhattanville, in May 2010, students staged a protest in response to the resignation of two administrators, the academic dean and acting vice president for student affairs, and vice president of enrollment. According to a local newspaper, the Harrison Patch, "Most of the outrage was focused toward the school's newly inaugurated president, Dr. Molly Easo Smith. Students say that Smith, who has only been president since April 7, 2010, has cut programs and made changes without taking input from students