Smith, Lee H., 1935-2018

Dates

• Existence: 1935 January 7 - 2018 September 19

Biography

Lee H. Smith was born 1935 January 7 in Ector, Texas. Smith grew up in north Texas and attended Texas A&M University on academic and basketball scholarships, where he earned a degree in mathematics in 1957. After his graduation, Smith worked in the aerospace and electrical industries while also earning a master degree from Southern Methodist University in 1962 in engineering administration and the first Ph.H. in statistics awarded from Texas A&M in 1964. He then went on to his career in academia, serving a professor and administrator at several Texas universities before arriving at Southwest Texas State University in 1974 as the university’s sixth president.

Smith’s academic experiences persuaded him that growth was incongruous with old-fashioned administrative processes. Adopting new policies, procedures, and data-driven expectations, Smith impacted the culture of the institution. He oversaw acquisition of the adjacent 78.5-acre San Marcos Baptist Academy for $11.25 million, making the largest single addition to main campus since 1903. It was named the Lee H. and Eva L. Smith West Campus in their honor in 2014. Enrollment grew from 11,804 to 15,400 and the university moved to NAIA athletics, which produced two Division II national champion football teams, before he resigned in 1981 to become president of Travelhost, Inc.

Smith had a successful career in business serving as president at three companies. He was co-founder and chairman of the Sunset Foundation, Inc., an educational nonprofit whose aim was to raise funds for students. In 2001, Smith and his wife established the Eva L. & Lee H. Smith Endowed Scholarship fund in the Department of Statistics at Texas A&M.

Smith was married Eva Lousie Landers Smith (1930-2015) and had two sons and one daughter. Smith passed away on 2018 September 19.

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