Mary Levi Smith
B.A. in Elementary Education, ’66
M.A. in Elementary Education, ’69
Inducted to the Alumni Hall of Fame in 1992

Mary Levi Smith was the eleventh and first female president of Kentucky State University. She served as president for seven years (1991-1998). Prior to becoming president, she was special assistant to the president and professor of education at Kentucky State University. She was promoted to the position of interim president from that of vice president for academic affairs in April 1989, and served in that position for 14 months. Smith has a long record of achievement in academia including scholarship, teaching and professional activity in education at various levels.

A native of Hazelnut, Miss., she is a graduate of Jackson State University from which she received a Bachelor of Science degree. She received a Master of Arts (’64) and a Doctorate of Education (’80) degree from the University of Kentucky.

Before joining Kentucky State University in 1970 as the assistant coordinator of the EPDA In-Service Reading Program for Classroom Teachers of Kentucky, she was assistant director of the Reading Clinic and a reading instructor at Tuskegee University. She also taught in public schools in Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky.

She became an assistant professor of education at Kentucky State University in 1974, then associate professor of education and acting chairperson of the Division of Education, Human Resources and Technology in 1981. In 1983, she became dean of the College of Applied Sciences and professor of education.

Smith was a commissioner of the Commission of Colleges for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools for six years. She was a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association for State Universities and Land Grant Colleges for three years; the Board of Directors for the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education; the Board of Directors for the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education; Board of Directors for the Frankfort Chapter of United Way for four years; Board of Directors for the Frankfort/Franklin County Community Education and chair of the Board for the Governmental Services Center for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. She also was appointed to the American Council on Education Commission on Women in Higher Education and was a member of the National Board of Examiners for the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.

In 1985, her colleagues at Kentucky State University named her an outstanding faculty member. She received an outstanding alumnus of Jackson State University award from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education in 1988 and the 1989 Torchbearers and Trailblazers Education Award from Pi Lambda Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. In 1990, she received the Lexington, Ky., YWCA Women of Achievement Award, Frankfort Chapter of the NAACP Women of the Year Award and the Citizens Award from the Frankfort Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. In 1992 and 2003 the National Alumni Association of Jackson State University presented to her the Outstanding Achievement Award of Excellence in Higher Education. In 1994, she received the Professional Achievement Award from the Louisville Defender Newspaper and Women of Achievement Award from the Frankfort Business and Professional Women.

The University of Kentucky honored Dr. Smith in 1995 by inducting her into the Hall of Distinguished Alumni. Governors Wallace Wilkinson and Brereton Jones made her a Kentucky Colonel. Governor Paul Patton named her the chair of the Kentucky Commission on Higher Education and Efficiency in 1996.

Upon her retirement from Kentucky State University after serving there for 28 years, Smith was named president emeritus and faculty emeritus by the KSU Board of Regents. Since her retirement in 1998, she became a member of the Board of Directors for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Consulting and Development Center, the Frankfort Salvation Army Advisory Board, the Frankfort Regional Medical Center Board and the Capital City Museum Board. She is a member of St. John AME Church in Frankfort where she is a Steward, the Director of Christian Education and a member of the Budget and Finance Committee. She is a member of the Kentucky Historical Society, the Links, a golden life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and the NAACP.

Smith recently concluded writing her memoirs of her experiences as Kentucky State University’s first female president and the first African-American female university president in Kentucky. The title of her book is “In Spite of the Odds: Using Roadblocks, Potholes, and Hurdles as Stepping Stone to Success.”

Known to others in higher education as a thoughtful, thorough and well-organized educator/administrator, Smith is an outspoken advocate of the value of education. “I think that education is and should be a lifelong process. What we do at the university is to help prepare students for life, which means preparing them for learning throughout their lifetimes.”