Reporting for Duty: Smith Welcomes New Director of Military and Veteran Affairs

Meet Michael Connolly, Smith’s new director of military and veteran affairs and a one-stop resource for service members during their entire association with Smith. As a student moves from curious prospect to current student to working alum, Connolly is a resource, confidant and concierge for anything they may need.

Originally from Silver Spring, Md., Connolly served in the U.S. Army Maryland National Guard for 10 years and deployed to Iraq twice. In 2010, he landed at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he finished his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and worked as director of the Office of Military and Veteran Service.

Connolly knows firsthand a lot of military and veteran students have apprehensions about competing in the college environment, but his job will be to make the transition easy.

“There is a wide-open lane for Smith to be known as the undisputed best place to get a business degree as a military student,” says Connolly. “These students want to feel like there is a community to tap into, but they also want to feel like we legitimately want and care about them and work hard for them. From our world-class faculty and research to our veteran community, no school can provide the value-add that Smith offers and nobody is going to take better care of them than us.” 

For more information about Smith's military and veteran initiatives, visit http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/military