Lloyd Smith, Vivek Malik appointed to SEMO Board of Regents

Lloyd Smith of Sikeston, Missouri, and Vivek Malik of Wildwood, Missouri, were appointed earlier this week as the two newest members of the Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents.

Vivek Malik

The appointments by Gov. Mike Parson come after openings in the board were created by the term expiration of former Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay B. Knudtson and the death of Dennis Vinson, former president and CEO of Signature Packaging and Paper in Jackson.

Smith, who replaces Knudtson, has led a career in the public sector, including a stint as executive director of the Missouri Republican Party until his retirement in 2013. He is now completing a two-year term on the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority Board.

He had previously served as the chief of staff for former U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and the late U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson, according to a Tuesday news release from university communications at Southeast.

In addition to his 28 years serving the 8th Congressional District, Smith was the Missouri political director for George W. Bush’s presidential campaign in 2004 and has advised more than two dozen statewide legislative candidates.

He represented U.S. Congress as a senior staff assistant for agriculture and hunger issues in Brussels, Berlin, Moscow, London and Rome, according to the release.

Smith earned a Bachelor of Science in secondary education from Southeast in 1973. He and his wife, Marlys — also a Southeast graduate — are parents to three children.

Malik, who replaces the late Vinson, is a practicing attorney with expertise in immigration law, including business, family, asylum and removal defense, according to a news release from Gov. Parson’s office. Prior to establishing his practice, the Law Office of Vivek Malik in St. Louis, he worked for St. Louis-based Lashly & Baer P.C.

Malik is a member of The Missouri Bar, a solicitor in England and Wales and has been an advocate of the Delhi Bar Council, according to the university release.

Over the years, he has been recognized by the Missouri Senate for his achievements and community contributions, awarded the Diverse Business Leader Award by the St. Louis Business Journal, named an Up and Coming Lawyer by Missouri Lawyers Weekly and was even recognized by the Southeast Missourian’s former Business Today magazine as a Top 30 Under 30 professional.

Malik earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak, Haryana, India. In 2002, he earned a Master of Business Administration from Southeast Missouri State University; in 2004, he earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.

Malik is married to Riju Malik and resides in Wildwood.

The new appointees will serve on the board of regents with terms expiring Jan. 1, 2026, according to Gov. Parson’s office. The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Missouri Senate.