Bert Smith Memorial Scholarship in Aerospace Engineering

Born and raised in St. Louis, Mo., Bert Smith attended the Missouri School of Mines in Rolla, Mo., and earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. Shortly after graduation, he served four years in the U.S. Navy at the Naval Avionics Facility in Indianapolis, Ind. It was there he met his future wife, Joyce.

Upon discharge from the Navy, Mr. Smith returned to MSM to pursue a graduate degree and to teach. He was one of twenty professors selected from across the country to work with the Hughes Aircraft Company in California, where he met the assistant dean of engineering at Kansas State University who urged Mr. Smith to teach and pursue his doctorate at K-State. After five years, Dr. Smith arrived at Wichita State University, where he remained for 43 years as professor, as well as chair of the Aerospace Engineering Department.

Throughout his teaching career, he maintained a close relationship with the local aircraft companies, especially Boeing, providing consultation or conducting classes. The recipient of many teaching honors and author of several publications, Dr. Smith considered himself one of the luckiest people alive because he was able to be a professor and researcher in the WSU College of Engineering.

Sadly, Dr. Smith passed away in 2010, after a four-year battle with brain cancer. The Bert Smith Memorial Scholarship in Aerospace Engineering was established to continue the work he so loved.