Walter L. Smith (scholar)

Walter Lee Smith is president emeritus of Florida A&M University (FAMU).[1][2] A Tampa native, the privately owned Walter L. Smith Library has a collection and hold programs related to African American history.

Smith received a bachelor's degree from Florida A&M University and a doctorate from Florida State University.[3]

He was an Africa-America Institute Scholar to West Africa in 1971 and studied African culture and history.[3] He worked for the U.S. government on federal school desegregation programs and at the Kennedy Space Center developing educational curriculum for engineering assistants on the Saturn V program before becomic an adiminstrator at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa and then Roxbury Community College in Massachusetts.[3]

From 1995 until 2000 he was a professor at the University of Florida.[3] He served as FAMU's seventh non-interim president[4] from 1977 until 1985.

FAMU's campus includes the Walter L. Smith Architecture Building [5] Florida State has a scholarship program in his honor.

The Florida State Archives have a photo of him presenting and award in 1984.[6] In the late 1980s a video about Walter L. Smith and his accomplishments at FAMU was released. Julian Bond introduces the film.[7]

He gave a presentation on race and education in Florida in 2014.[8]

He sued FAMU President Frederick Humphries accusing him of withholding a payment over professional rivalry.[9]

In 2009 he received an award from the NEA.[10]

References
  3. "NEA fetes retired professor Walter L. Smith » COE News » College of Education, University of Florida". education.ufl.edu.
  5. "School of Architecture and Engineering Technology- Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University2019". www.famu.edu.
  6. Florida, State Library and Archives of. "Florida A&M University president Walter Smith presenting Service Citation to Annette P. Thorpe in Tallahassee". Florida Memory.
  7. Florida, State Library and Archives of. "FLORIDA AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL UNIVERSITY: THE WALTER SMITH YEARS". Florida Memory.
  8. "Dr. Walter Smith on Race and Education in Florida". sfcollege.campuslabs.com.
  9. "Slip Opinion". myfloridalegal.com.
  10. Rattler, News (April 22, 2009). "RattlerWIRE: FAMU's Former President Walter Smith is the First African American Recipient of the NEA 2009 Applegate-Dorros Peace and Int. Understanding Award".
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