Three of the greetings were in languages from her native India: Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. They reflected the striking journey Dr. Smith had made from her birthplace in Chennai — where she had never dated or been outdoors past 6 p.m. when she left at age 23 — to the pinnacle of American higher education: a college presidency.
As colleges in the United States race to expand study-abroad programs and even to create campuses overseas, they are also putting an international stamp on the president’s office. Dr. Smith, 52, has joined an expanding roster of foreign-born college and university leaders.
