Eminent historian Richard Norton Smith, director of the Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum, will leave his position to become a member of the faculty at GVSU and executive director of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation. Smith's joint positions are a partnership between GVSU and the Gerald R. Ford Foundation; the agreement was announced late last week by President Lubbers and Martin J. Allen Jr., chairman of the Foundation.
Richard Norton Smith is one of the nation's most distinguished scholars and his presence on our campus will be of great value to our students, Lubbers said.
Smith has been appointed Distinguished Professor of U.S. Presidential History. He will lecture on that subject, conduct symposia in collaboration with the Foundation; pursue research for his continuing authorship; and be available for instructional partnerships with members of the GVSU faculty.
A graduate of Harvard University, Smith holds an honorary doctor of humane letters from GVSU. Previous to his directorate at the Ford Museum and Library, Smith served as director of the Hoover, Reagan and Eisenhower Presidential
Libraries. He is the author of critically acclaimed biographies of George Washington, Thomas E. Dewey and Col. Robert McCormick of the Chicago Tribune. He served as a commentator for PBS during its recent coverage of the Democratic and Republican national conventions. He appears frequently on C-Span and is quoted regularly in newspapers and magazines by the nation's top political writers.
Smith was featured in The American Century Audio Series, which appeared last year on GVNow and WGVU Radio in partnership with The American Century Exhibition at the Ford Museum.
Smith's first symposium, jointly sponsored by GVSU and the Foundation, will take place September 13 on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus.
