OXNARD — In 2005, the Channel Islands Maritime Museum’s speaker, Howard Jay Smith, was the curator for an exhibit on the Fleets of the Ming Dynasty at the Ventura County Maritime Museum. His most recent book, a novel, “Beethoven in Love; Opus 139,” was just published. His newest topic, “When China Ruled the Seas, the Treasure Fleets of the Ming Dynasty 1405-1433”, will be the focus of his next series at the Maritime Museum, taking place Wednesday, June 20, 2018, 6:30-8PM. Free for Members, $7 non-members and $5 Seniors/Military. cimmvc.org/speaker-series/
Smith, a Board Officer for the Santa Barbara Symphony and head of their Development & Planned Giving Committee, has been honored three times as one of the top Business Leaders in the Central Coast by the Pacific Coast Business Times. He served for three years as Chairman of the Board of VCEDA, the Ventura County Economic Development Association, for which he has been recognized as Business Executive of the Year by the Ventura County Leadership Academy and as Small Business Advocate of the Year by the SBA.
Smith graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude from the University of Buffalo and Nanyang University of Singapore with an Ed.M. in Administration and a B.A. in Asian Studies and was a Graduate Fellow at the American Film Institute. He taught for five years at UCLA Extension and has lectured nationally. A frequent Op Ed contributor to the Ventura County Star and the Ojai Valley News, his articles have also appeared in the Washington Post, Horizon Magazine, and numerous trade publications.