Washington and Lee University - Calyx Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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Bpttrg IC0uts g mttlj Q RESIDENT HENRY LOUIS SMITH belongs to that long line of dis- tinguished men who were born in the manse; for he is the son of a well known former pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, North Carolina. Growing up amid the trying times in the South imme- diately following the Civil War he learned many hard lessons in life from experi- ence. As a consequence of the sacrifices of his father and mother, who knew the value of an education, and of his own ambition he obtained a college education at a time when many other boys in the South were denied such a privilege. He was graduated from Davidson College in 1881, and in 1886 he recevied an A. M. from the same institution. In 1890 he took the Ph.D. degree at the University of Virginia. xA.s a teacher of science at Davidson where Dr. Smith began his professional career, he was so full of enthusiasm and inspiration that the students flocked into his classes. But his restless energy could not well be confined within the walls of a class room, and after twelve years of service in the professor ' s chair, he was elected to the presidency of Davidson. The policy of Dr. Smith since his election to the presidency of Washington and Lee in 1912 has been to develop the students in the best manner possible physically, intellectually and morally. He has constantly directed his efforts toward restricting the number of students and increasing the number of members of the faculty in order that the proportion might become more satisfactory for the best results in teaching. Possessing a mind of scientific and practical bent, he is yet an idealist with a vivid imagination. He is a man without prejudices who deals with abstract principles rather than with individuals. From )}oyhood Dr. Smith has been an athlete and lover of outdoor sports. Hunting, fishing, boating, swimming and skating have always been his delight, and in one or another of these forms of sport he still takes his recreation. For an avocation he has adopted farming, and nothing gives him more genuine pleasure than to slip away from the busy duties of his office and spend a few days studying the problems of his apple orchard in North Carolina. Dr. Smith is a fluent and effective public speaker. With his remarkable powers of analysis he carries conviction by his appeal to the reason and the intellect. And he is in constant demand as a speaker wherever educational, economic, or religious questions are to be discussed. The one word which probably bulks largest in President Smith ' s success as a teacher, administrator, athlete, farmer, and speaker is enthusiasm. For whatever he does, he does with all his might. Page Seven