Washington State University Office of the President: Samuel H. Smith Records, 1960-1991

The functions and duties of the Washington State University President are defined in University Faculty Manual, edition of 1987, as:

In addition to being designated as secretary ex officio of the Board of Regents, the President as general agent of the Board is the chief executive officer of Washington State University. The President administers the policies approved by the Board of Regents, serves as advisor to the Board on policies and operations and is the agent through whom representations to the Board are regularly made. Other functions of the chief executive officer include: Leadership in developing policies and organization for teaching, research, and extension programs. Public administration of the University, including representation before the Legislature and other state agencies. Responsibility for the general welfare of students; the development, operation and maintenance of buildings, lands and equipment; financial matters pertaining to development, operation and maintenance of University; and the administration of regulations adopted by the Board of Regents. Responsibility, delegated by the Board of Regents, for all appointments, promotion, salaries, leaves, resignations, and dismissals. Presiding at meetings of the general faculty.

Born Feb. 4, 1940, in Salinas, California, Samuel H. Smith earned two plant pathology degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, a bachelor’s in 1961 and a Ph.D. in 1964. He was a NATO postdoctoral fellow at the Glasshouse Crops Research Institute in England in 1964-1965. He was member of the faculty at the University of California Berkeley, and served 16 years at Pennsylvania State University, initially as a faculty member, then department head, and finally, dean of the College of Agriculture and director of both the Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Station. In 1985, Smith was selected by the Washington State University Board of Regents to serve as the university’s 8th president.

A hallmark of the Smith administration was the establishment in 1989 of WSU campuses in Spokane, the Tri-Cities, and Vancouver to serve place-bound and job-bound students. From 1997-1999, Smith served as chair of the executive committee of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and in 2000, Smith chaired the Board of Directors of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. He also served on NASULGC’s Kellogg Commission on the Future of the State and Land-Grant Universities. He has received four honorary doctoral degrees, from Nihon University in Tokyo, Far Eastern State University in Vladivostok, Western Governors University in Salt Lake City, and City University in Seattle.

After leaving the WSU presidency in 2000, Sam Smith continued as a trustee of the Western Governors University; a founding director of the Talaris Research Institute; a founding director of the College Success Foundation; and founding director of the Behind the Badge Foundation. He has received the Weldon B. Gibson Distinguished Volunteer Award, the WSU Foundation’s highest honor. And in 2002, the Samuel H. Smith Center for Undergraduate Education, on the Pullman campus, was named for him.