Fitzroy (Fitz) Smith
Fitzroy Smith is a Risk Management & Insurance professional with over 25 years of experience. He is a thought leader whose colleagues rely on his risk management, insurance knowledge, and analytical and technical skills. A consistent theme of his career has been the effective management of business/operational risk.
Reporting to the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Risk Officer advises the Board of Trustees, University President, President's Cabinet, the Risk Committee, and other stakeholders related to the university's risk environment, insurance needs and business continuity processes.
Fitz joined the university in 2021 with notable expertise, most recently serving as Assistant Vice President for Risk Management & Insurance for The George Washington University (GWU) and Medical Faculty Associates (MFA). Fitz served as the senior risk executive and oversaw the global insurance portfolio for the university and the GW-MFA (Medical Faculty Association). In this role, he led the effort in the procurement and administration of global insurance programs, management of captive insurance operations, clinical risk management, Enterprise Risk Management - ERM, contract review, environmental health & safety and crisis management.
His extensive experience also includes direct responsibility for claims management, including third-party liability, employment practices liability, workers’ compensation, property insurance, and Cyber and health care liability among other items. Responding to COVID-19, he was a key partner on GWU's COVID-19 Recovery Task Force and led the university’s request for assistance from FEMA and the US Department of Education.
Before joining George Washington University, Fitz held various positions with insurance companies, insurance brokers, local government entities, and private sector companies, focusing on risk management, including ERM, safety, and insurance. Fitz previously served as the Director of Risk Management for the Arlington County Government in Virginia, where he launched the county's first Enterprise Risk Management program and mitigated risks spanning natural hazard, financial, operational, technology and legal.
Fitz holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Property and Casualty Insurance from St. Johns University (New York) and a Master of Science degree in Management with a concentration in Risk Management & Insurance from Florida State University. In addition, he also holds the Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designations. Since 2007 Fitz has served on the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington. He was selected for the Chairman of the Board (YMCA of Metropolitan Washington) and served from 2016 to 2018.