Ferrum College hosted a ribbon cutting and reception celebrating the new Richard L. Smith Center for International Programs on Friday, April 22, 2022. The ribbon cutting took place in Hart International Plaza beside Stanley Library, which is home to the new international center. A reception in the lobby of Grousbeck Hall followed.

Named in honor of the late professor of History and Williams Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Humanities, Richard Lee Smith, who was an avid world traveler, the newly named international center welcomes students from around the world to campus; opens the world to Ferrum students through study abroad; and offers programs designed to broaden perspectives and help students connect to the rest of the world.

Ferrum College President David Johns believes the Richard L. Smith Center for International Programs will be one of those places where the world comes together. “In a world that is too often polarized and where difference gives rise to division, the Richard L. Smith Center for International Programs will be a place of understanding and hope, a place of curiosity and inspiration,” he said.

Wilson Paine, vice president of Institutional Advancement & External Relations and a former student of Professor Smith’s, noted that Smith pushed him to think of travel and personal experiences as an extension of the learning that occurred in the classroom. “He encouraged me to embrace opportunities that broadened my worldview and my own role in society. That is the essence of the Richard L. Smith Center for International Programs, and how fitting it is that it will now be named after Dr. Richard L. Smith.”

Smith, who died on February 24, 2021 at the age of 75, taught history at Ferrum College for 42 years. As a college professor, Smith taught more than 8,000 students, over 7,000 of them at the College. He was also a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and brother; a teacher and storyteller; an internationally recognized top scholar; an author; and a warm-hearted and generous member of the Ferrum community. 

Smith was remembered fondly by his colleagues. Dr. Tim Daniels, associate professor of History and Chair of Humanities and Performing Arts, reflected that he came to teach at Ferrum College because of Smith. “That he trusted me with the reins of the history department is probably the most profound honor I’ve received over the past six years,” he said.

Daniels went on to note that Smith believed it was great if everything went according to plan while traveling, but that he also believed amazing stories were often created when it didn’t.  “At some point, a Ferrum student who has benefitted from the center named in his memory is going to run into an obstacle that redirects their path and teaches them something about themselves they didn’t know they needed to learn. I like to think that it’s going to be Richard intentionally placing those bumps in their paths,” said Daniels.

Born on August 26, 1945 in Montgomery, WV, Smith spent his childhood in Cranford, NJ playing football and getting into things with his friends.  He later moved to Moravia, NY, where he worked on his family’s dairy farm during summers and attended college courses at SUNY-Cortland. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history in 1967 and then enrolled at Rutgers University where he received his master’s degree in 1969 and his Ph.D. in 1972, both in history. Prior to arriving at Ferrum College, Smith taught for four years at LaGrange College in LaGrange, GA.

Smith enjoyed teaching ancient Asian and African courses, including Chinese, Indian, Southeast Asian, North African, and sub-Saharan history, along with traditional Western European and American subjects. He was known to be a great storyteller who enthralled listeners with tales of his travels to the Sahara Desert, Timbuktu, Kenya, Egypt, Peru, and more. Some of these trips included his students who arrived home with hilarious stories and fond memories, including a rafting trip down the Tambopata River that ended in a crash and fire ant attack at their rainforest camp.

Once asked what he loved about Ferrum College, Smith responded, “Ferrum is special because it is a place where, as a teacher, I could help students maximize their potential if they were willing to work hard and dedicate themselves to achieving academic success. I am especially proud to see that so many of my former students have gone on to enjoy success in their chosen careers in business, public service, education, and a variety of other fields.”

To see additional photos of the ribbon cutting ceremony and reception, please click here.

Ferrum College Associate Professor of Spanish Patty Suppes is the recipient of a 2019 NAFSA Region VIII Advocacy Day scholarship.  Suppes will participate in NAFSA Advocacy Day activities on March 18 and 19 in Washington, D.C. She plans to lobby for support for international education: “That includes study abroad and international students coming here,” Suppes explained. “We, as in colleges and universities, need more support for student visas and more funding for programming and scholarships.”

Suppes has also been selected to be the NAFSA region VIII conference planning apprentice.  In this role, she will support the current conference planner for the organization’s fall conference in Baltimore.  Next year, she will lead the planning efforts when the NAFSA conference moves to Roanoke.

In addition, Suppes has been accepted to NAFSA’s Trainer Corps and will train conference attendees in areas such as: collaborative approaches to developing faculty-led programs; internships, research, and service learning abroad; student health and safety abroad; developing basic research skills to strengthen international education practices; and others.

Suppes immigrated to the U.S. from Peru as a child.  At 16, she volunteered to teach English as a second language through the Northern Virginia Literacy Council. After earning her bachelor’s from Sweet Briar College, she served with the Peace Corps in Morocco and then earned a master’s and Ph.D. in Latin American literature through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Suppes’s current focus is improving immigration policies in the U.S.; she has received a Jessie Ball duPont grant to participate in “Immigration and Citizenship in the United States,” a National Humanities Center seminar.

“It is essential to who we are as a nation and to the ideal of a free and fair society to actively promote diversity and inclusion in our institutions of higher education,” Suppes said in a statement. “Students need a global perspective that can only come from living and learning in a culture different from their own, and from interacting here in the U.S. with students who have a different cultural background. It is essential that we impress upon our legislators that they need to support us in our efforts to broaden education to not only include, but to embrace the diversity of our world.”

Read more about Advocacy Day and Dr. Suppes’s scholarship here.