PAYING IT F O R W A R D
gift from professor's estate totals $1.95 million alifornia University of Pennsylvania students soon will see the benefits of what is believed to be the largest scholarship donation in its modern history. The estate of G. Ralph Smith II, a retired assistant professor of English who died in 2010, has bequeathed $1.95 million to Cal U. The G. Ralph Smith II General Scholarships are expected to be awarded beginning in 2013-2014. The University is in the process of developing scholarship criteria, but Smith made it clear that the gift could be used in a manner that would do the most good. “Professor Smith worked with excellent professional advisers in the planning and management of this extraordinary gift,” says Gordon Core, director of planned giving at Cal U. “Cal U was fortunate to have worked with Professor Smith to plan in advance to honor his intentions for his bequest. “He will be sending students to college every fall. Long after we are gone, there will be Smith Scholarship recipients at Cal U.” Smith taught at the University for 30 years, retiring in 1994 for health reasons. Dr. John Pierce Watkins, emeritus president at California University and a former chair of the English Department, worked closely with Smith. “Classroom evaluations by his colleagues were always exemplary, especially in the areas of linguistics and post-war European fiction,” Watkins recalls. “He was very much admired by his students, and his students really cared about him and told me so numerous times. Despite his health challenges, he was a popular professor and made important contributions to the department.”
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Among those contributions was a project to upgrade the library holdings in English and literature. Smith also was chair of the English Honors Committee. As chair of the Freshmen English Committee, Watkins recalls, the professor was instrumental in updating English requirements for all students. Smith served as president of the California Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, chair of the Western Division of the State College System/AAUP, and president of the Faculty Senate at Cal U. He was a member of several Faculty Senate committees. Watkins also recalls another task that Smith took very seriously. “In the English Department, we, as his colleagues, warmly remember him as the ‘keeper of the coffeepot.’ There were 40 faculty members in the department at that time, and he took his duties in that regard seriously. Lots of people didn’t pay for coffee as they should, but he always made
sure we had coffee.” These roles — whether formal or lighthearted — speak to the kind of person Smith was at heart, Watkins says. “He always served his University well, and the bequest he left is a continuation of that good service he was known for. He was a complicated and interesting man who obviously remembered his University with great charity.” ■ By Wendy Mackall, assistant communications director at Cal U
MAKE PLANS For information about developing an estate plan, or about establishing or contributing to a student scholarship through your estate, contact gordon Core, director of planned giving, at 724-938-5985 or core@calu.edu.
SUMMER 2012 CAL U REVIEW 25 ■