With the retirement of Business Prof. C. Ray Smith in August, the Darden School will lose its longest serving faculty member.
Smith, a 1958 Darden graduate, will retire after 42 years of educational and administrative service to the University.
"You need to retire when you still have enough sense to know to retire," Smith said.
Smith's retirement coincides with the 45th reunion of his Darden class.
In a resolution commending Smith, the Board of Visitors acknowledged that the professor has taught "virtually every living alumnus" of the Darden School.
Smith joined the Darden faculty just three years after receiving his MBA degree.
In addition to his teaching responsibilities as the Tipton R. Snavely Professor of Business Administration, Smith has held several administrative positions.
He acted as interim Darden dean on three separate occasions and served as Associate dean for administration, associate dean for MBA education, associate dean of executive education and chair of the Faculty Senate. Smith is currently executive director of the Darden School Foundation.
"Ray has made contributions on almost every front at the Darden School," Darden Dean Robert S. Harris said. "He has done a remarkable array of things."
During his four decades at the University, Smith said he has seen significant changes in size, administration and student make-up.
"My [graduating] class had 33 people, and today we have 300," he said.
During his Darden tenure, the business school has become not only more populous, but also more diverse.
Smith said he witnessed the admittance and increased enrollment of women, as well as a rise in the number of minority and international students.
Another improvement Smith noted was the emergence of a winning football team.
"He was here when the school was a very small school, and not very well known, and he has seen it grow into an internationally-ranked institution," Harris said.
Despite vast differences, Smith said he also is amazed by the amount of consistency maintained over the years. Outstanding students, small classes and top name professors were and still are important elements of Darden, he added.
Over the years, Smith has contributed not only a vast knowledge of school history and traditions, but also progressive thinking, Harris said.
"He always looks forward as to how the school can do better," he said.
Smith was elected trustee of the Darden School this past weekend.
"We wanted to make sure he stayed around to help us at the school," Harris said.
Of the memories Smith will take with him when he retires, he said the people he has worked with are the most unforgettable.
"The thing you remember is the students," Smith said. "When you need a lift, you just go downstairs and talk to the students."
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