C. LeMoyne Smith of Little Rock has made a $300,000 gift to the Arkansas Tech University Foundation for the purpose of establishing the LeMoyne and Selma Smith Research Scholarship in the Arkansas Tech College of Business.
Mr. Smith (photographed, center), a 1956 graduate of Arkansas Tech, is the retired president and chief executive officer of South-Western Publishing. Also photographed are Dr. Robert C. Brown, Arkansas Tech president, and Jayne Jones, Arkansas Tech vice president for development.
Along with Selma, his late wife of 45 years, Mr. Smith is a long-time supporter of Arkansas Tech. He is a member of the J.W. Hull Society, which is reserved for the most generous benefactors of the university. He is also a 25-year member of the Tech Loyalty Fund Loyalty Society.
“Establishing a scholarship endowment is something that Selma and I discussed many times,” said Smith. “I’ve always had an interest in developing students. That is why I wanted to create this research scholarship and endow it such that it can benefit students for generations to come.
“The most important thing for the university is that the students who receive this research scholarship will be working with a faculty member in such a way that it will make a great contribution to the literature of business education and to business activities in general,” continued Smith. “My professional career was in educational publishing. I have a great love of helping students gain knowledge that will make them successful in their careers.”
Mr. Smith began his career as a teacher in Little Rock and Atkins. He served as an instructor at Arkansas Tech for two years before accepting a position with South-Western Publishing in 1960.
He started as a sales representative, and in 1982, he was elevated to the rank of president and CEO. As the company’s top officer, Smith led a senior management team and over 700 employees in publishing and marketing South-Western’s numerous business titles to secondary schools and colleges and universities throughout the United States and selected parts of the world.
After overseeing an electronic publishing program that made South-Western an industry leader in the 1980s, Smith became chairman of the company in 1990. After a 31-year career with South-Western Publishing, he retired from an active role with the organization in 1991.
Mr. Smith has served his alma mater on the Arkansas Tech University College of Business Advisory Board and the Arkansas Tech University Foundation Board.
He received the highest honor that Arkansas Tech can bestow upon an alumnus — induction into the university’s Hall of Distinction — in 1988.
The first recipient of the LeMoyne and Selma Smith Research Scholarship will be selected for the fall 2011 semester.
Applicants for the LeMoyne and Selma Smith Research Scholarship must be a full-time Arkansas Tech student majoring in a degree program within the College of Business. They must also be a junior or senior level student with a minimum of 60 credit hours successfully completed prior to the fall semester of the award.
Students applying for the scholarship must also have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, a demonstrated financial need and the ability to conduct research in a prescribed area. The research needs of the College of Business will be a guiding factor in the selection of the recipient, and those receiving the scholarship will assist with 10-to-12 hours of research per week during the semester of the award. For more information about establishing, contributing toward or applying for a scholarship through the Arkansas Tech Foundation, call (479) 968-0400.
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