WSU President Emeritus Sam Smith will give the inaugural presentation of the new Dr. Sam Smith Lecture Series in Plant Virology, 4:10 p.m. Monday, April 7, in Room 343 of Johnson Hall on the WSU Pullman Campus. His presentation is titled ‘The Changing Environment for Higher Education in the State of Washington.’
Smith served as WSU’s president from 1985 to 2000, and currently serves as a member of the Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Smith earned two plant pathology degrees from the University of California Berkley, a bachelor’s in 1961 and a Ph. D. in 1964.
In 2000, Smith chaired the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, the nation’s oldest higher education association. He also served on NASULGC’s Kellogg Commission on the Future of the State and Land-Grant Universities. The commission planned for change and improvement of state universities and land-grant colleges for the 21st century.
For additional information on Smith, go to:
- Sam Smith Era Memories, https://www.wsu.edu/SamSmith/
- Sam Smith bio, https://president.wsu.edu/office/university-governance/past-presidents/smith.html
- Oral history interview with Sam Smith, https://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/oralhistoryproject/