M.J.J. Smith: Teacher, Mentor; Alma’s “Secret Weapon”
Dr. M.J.J. Smith, Reid-Knox Professor Emeritus of History and one of the most beloved professors in Alma history, died Sept. 7, 2005. He was 75 years old.
“The Old Warrior” was rewarded many times over for his commitment to teaching and scholarship. He was the first to hold the Reid-Knox Endowed Chair, one of the first two professors to receive the Barlow Award for Faculty Excellence and the first to be named Outstanding Professor in the Social Sciences Division.
Graduating seniors honored him with the Outstanding Professor Award four more times and he earned the Barlow once more. In 1986 he was selected as one of the top 50 professors in the United States by Change: the Magazine of Higher Learning. The American Association of Higher Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching also honored him for his contributions to scholarship.
Prior to being named the Reid-Knox Professor, Dr. Smith was the Charles A. Dana Professor of History from 1984 to 1992. His commitment to research in communication, history, political science and public policy led the College to purchase for the Monteith Library’s permanent collection the microfilmed papers of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, Alma College alumnus and former trustee.
Many of his former students talk fondly of his Hyde Park seminars, a biennial trek to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, N.Y. Living in an efficiency motel across the street from the library while student teams prepared meals and performed housecleaning tasks, Dr. Smith expounded about his “affair” with history and how he considered the time spent with the library documents as time spent with his “mistress.”
Dr. William Potter '73 was a Smith advisee and credits him with elevating Potter’s career path from high school history teacher to college administrator. Presently the dean of University College at Ferris State University and formerly Alma’s dean of academic affairs, Potter accompanied the Hyde Park seminars from 1978 to 1986 as a college administrator and helped critique the students on their research, writing and behavior.
“He was truly a teacher, an advisor, a mentor, and ultimately a colleague over a span of 30 years,” says Potter. “Clearly, much of the professional good that I have experienced I owe to him. I know that hundreds of other students and faculty benefited from his guidance and tutelage during that time and that, as is the legacy of any great teacher, hundreds and thousands of students in subsequent generations will be better because of one of the lessons that Smith’s students took with them into their work lives.”
As the driving force behind Alma’s pre-law program, Dr. Smith was a mentor to some of the top lawyers in the country. He developed an accelerated summer program where he would drive to cities around the state to hold class so young scholars could earn a degree in three years. With influence beyond pre-law, many corporate executives, bank presidents and business owners credit M.J.J. with their success.
The Honorable Hugh W. Brenneman Jr. '67, magistrate judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan in Grand Rapids, remembers how he discovered the crucial effect analytical writing has on success. Handing back written assignments, Dr. Smith had torn off the cover sheets with grades and offered sight unseen the grade or the opportunity to redo the paper. Perhaps learning innovation from his mentor, Brenneman detected the indentation of a grade on his paper and decided to rewrite.
“M.J.J. Smith was a mentor,” says Brenneman. “He would tutor a student one-on-one, much like I imagine they do it at Oxford or Cambridge. I thought I knew how to write. I decided to redo the paper. I actually worked in his office rewriting pages of my paper, and he would critique them and hand them back as fast as I wrote them.”
Dr. Smith recognized the abilities of Joanne Olson Finnorn ‘85, vice president and general counsel of Onstar Corp., and set her on the course to Phi Beta Kappa, signing her up for German because it was harder than other languages. Fluent in German, her husband and children speak the language, and she spent nine years of her career in England, Germany and Switzerland. She also realized her dream of attending Stanford Law School.
“Dr. Smith suggested that I major in history, not just to learn the subject but to learn how to think like a lawyer and write well,” says Finnorn. “I think what he really meant was that he wanted to make sure he, Dr. (Michael) Yavenditti and Dr. (James) Schmidtke had plenty of opportunity to teach me through the Socratic method and to toughen up my writing skills. Well, it worked.”
His recruiting abilities are legendary. On a campus visit during his high school senior year, Kevin Blatchford '83, now an attorney with Chicago law firm Sidley and Austin and one of the initiators of the M.J.J. Smith Scholarship Fund, was “bowled over” by Dr. Smith’s business-like demeanor. Dr. Smith presented him with pen and paper to take notes so as not to waste his or Blatchford’s time and then assigned homework. Blatchford was to place in each room of his house recommended books by authors with masterful writing styles, read for 15 minutes each time he entered the room and analyze the authors’ styles. Blatchford decided to attend Alma College before he left the office.
“As I e-mailed to one of my classmates who is part of the McKinley Club, named by M.J.J. due to our unabashed conservatism, he was our Last Lion,” says Blatchford. “In some ways he was already missed, but he lived a life worth living and leaves a legacy of hundreds of students and faculty whose lives were profoundly affected by Dr. Smith.”
Doug Dome '83, president of Dome HK and U.S. creative director of Hill and Knowlton, and another champion of the M.J.J. Smith Scholarship, agrees with Blatchford, calling Dr. Smith the Admissions Office’s “secret weapon.” Building a communications business that represented nationally known clients before merging with Hill and Knowlton, Dome attributes much of his professional success to his mentor.
“For many of us, he assumed a quasi-parental role where we knew, eventually, we would have to answer to M.J.J. for our actions,” says Dome. “His large persona, literally and figuratively, was simultaneously feared and revered by his prodigies. Like Professor Kingsfield in the then popular television series ‘The Paper Chase,’ Dr. Smith’s use of the Socratic method taught us critical thinking and verbal parrying skills that I continue to rely on today. Dr. Smith helped us to establish relevant goals, develop a plan to achieve those goals and then ‘encouraged’ us to be disciplined enough to implement the plan.”
An emphasis on academic rigor, intense grilling and an underlying belief in students’ success combined with a centripetal personality and quick wit earned him the respect and life-long friendships of his students. During his acceptance speech for the endowed chair in 1992, Dr. Smith urged students to become “disciples of outcome,” to “learn how to take the torch and illuminate dark places.” He advised them to “forget yesterday, ignore tomorrow… take action today.”
When Dr. Smith failed to show for class one day in 1992, The Almanian reported students were shocked to learn he was rushed to the hospital with bronchitis, pleurisy, ruptured discs and a strain on his heart. He relinquished the departmental chair and pre-law directorship to Dr. Michael Yavenditti, professor of history, and never taught full-time again.
At the request of his family no public memorials are planned at this time. Memorial contributions may be made to the M.J.J. Smith Scholarship Fund at Alma College. For more information, contact Bob Eldridge, alumni relations director, at 1-800-291-1312. Cards and condolences may be sent to his wife, Betty, and family Carolyn, Eileen and Scott at 851 Charles Rd., Alma, Mich. 48801.
– Skip Traynor
