Stephen P. Smiley

Director at Sweet Briar College

Stephen Smiley is the managing partner of Madison Lane Partners LLC, a private advisory firm in Dallas, Texas. Smiley was a member of the board of directors of, and an advisor to, Signature Family Wealth Advisors, a registered investment advisor, from 2009 until the firm was sold in 2018. Headquartered in Norfolk, Signature serves high net-worth families and manages in excess of $4 billion.

From 1996 to 2010, Smiley was president of Hunt Private Equity Group Inc., the private investment group associated with the Ray L. Hunt family of Dallas. Prior to joining Hunt, Smiley was president of Cypress Capital Corporation, a private equity firm he co-founded in 1991. Smiley started his professional career working for Citicorp/Citigroup for 15 years in New York and Dallas in various corporate lending and private equity capacities. Smiley is the former chairman of the board of managers of the Alumni Association at the University of Virginia. He is a member of the board of directors of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation and the Arts Council at the university. He is also on the board of trustees of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas.

He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1971 with a B.A. in English literature. Following college, Smiley served as a weapons officer in the U.S. Navy aboard a guided missile cruiser. He received an MBA from the College of William & Mary in 1976.

Timeline

  • Director

    Current role