October 9, 2002

CONTACT:  Ross Feltz (724) 738-2919; e-mail: ross.feltz@sru.edu

SRU  PRESIDENT LAUDED FOR ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE                                           

SLIPPERY ROCK,  Pa. -- The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elected Slippery Rock University President Dr. G. Warren Smith to the rank of AAAS Fellow in recognition of his “distinguished efforts on behalf of the advancement of science and its applications.”

“Dr. Smith is being honored for his contributions to the field of chemistry, for service to professional scientific and higher education associations, and for academic leadership, particularly as a university president,” said Alan Leshner, chief executive officer of AAAS.

As president of Slippery Rock University since 1997, Smith has provided leadership for major technological advances for the campus. The university is ranked by Yahoo! among the top 150 in the nation for Internet readiness, is building a new science and technology building, and has strengthened its science-related programs by organizing them into a new College of Health, Environment and Science.

Prior to his presidencies at Southeastern Louisiana University and at Slippery Rock University,  Smith  served as professor and associate professor of chemistry at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks; as an American Council on Education Fellow; visiting professor and assistant professor of chemistry at Cornell University; head of the department of chemistry and chemical engineering at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks; and dean of the School of Science and Technologies and professor of physical sciences at the University of Houston, Clear Lake.

He is on the board of directors of the American Association of University Administrators and holds membership in the American Chemical Society, the American Council on Education, International Association of University Presidents, American Association of Higher Education, the Scientific Research Society of Sigma Xi, the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the National Speleological Society and the Arctic Institute of North America, among others.

He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Grinnell College in 1993 and from the State College (Pa.) Area High School in 2001, and has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and The Explorers Club.

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