Florida Senate - 2009                            (NP)    SR 2766
       
       
       
       By Senator Joyner
       
       
       
       
       18-03137-09                                           20092766__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution commending Dr. Walter L. Smith for his
    3         accomplishments in the field of education.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, each year, the National Education Association’s
    6  Applegate-Dorros Peace and International Understanding Award is
    7  presented to an individual whose activities in education
    8  contribute to international understanding and cooperation among
    9  people and nations of the world, and
   10         WHEREAS, this year’s recipient of the award, Dr. Walter L.
   11  Smith, has spent decades as a champion for education both at
   12  home and abroad, and
   13         WHEREAS, with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree
   14  from Florida A & M University, Dr. Smith became a leader in
   15  education, serving as Chairman of the Science Department at
   16  Hillsborough County’s Marshall High School, bringing about the
   17  involvement of the first Black students in the Kennedy Space
   18  Center programs, and assisting the United States Office of
   19  Education in developing school district desegregation plans and
   20  graduate education training centers for Black administrators,
   21  and
   22         WHEREAS, after receiving his Ph.D. in Higher Education
   23  Organization and Management from Florida State University, Dr.
   24  Smith became President of Roxbury Community College in Boston,
   25  Massachusetts, and in 1977 became the seventh President of
   26  Florida A & M University and served until 1985, and
   27         WHEREAS, under Dr. Smith’s presidency at Florida A & M
   28  University, new colleges and graduate education programs were
   29  established, the Presidential Scholars Program was created to
   30  recruit some of the best and brightest students, student
   31  services were improved, and major construction projects were
   32  implemented in academic and athletic areas, and
   33         WHEREAS, after leaving the presidency, Dr. Smith was
   34  selected as a Senior Fulbright Scholar and, through his research
   35  at the University of Malawi in Central Africa, brought about
   36  innovation in graduate education at the university, and
   37         WHEREAS, as an outgrowth of his work in Malawi, Dr. Smith
   38  established an educational “think tank” at Florida A & M
   39  University, called “Peoples and Places Around the World,” and
   40         WHEREAS, in 1987, Dr. Smith began providing educational
   41  orientation to South African educators in preparation for the
   42  transition from apartheid to democracy and led efforts in
   43  developing a master plan for the implementation of community
   44  colleges in the Republic of South Africa, NOW, THEREFORE,
   45  
   46  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   47  
   48         That Dr. Walter L. Smith is commended for his
   49  accomplishments in the field of education and congratulated as
   50  the recipient of the National Education Association’s 2009
   51  Applegate-Dorros Peace and International Understanding Award.
   52         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   53  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Dr. Walter L.
   54  Smith as a tangible token of the sentiments of the Florida
   55  Senate.