In Memoriam: F. Alan Smith
It is with sadness we report the passing of F. Alan Smith, the generous Florida Tech benefactor with a distinguished career at General Motors who served for nearly 30 years on the university’s Board of Trustees.
Mr. Smith passed away June 2, his family by his side.
Named to the Florida Tech Board of Trustees in 1996 and more recently serving as Trustee Emeritus, Mr. Smith came to the university after a prestigious career at General Motors Corporation that spanned more than 35 years.
After he earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1952 and an MBA in 1953, Mr. Smith served in the U.S. Navy and then joined General Motors in 1956 in the treasurer’s office in New York. He then advanced rapidly, mostly through the financial side of the business, the News York Times noted, taking staff positions in the treasurer’s and chairman’s offices. In 1978 he became president and general manager of General Motors of Canada Ltd., and later was named executive vice president of finance for GM and a director.
In addition to supporting the Scott Center for Autism Treatment at Florida Tech, Mr. Smith’s generosity fueled the creation in 2007 of the F. Alan Smith Visiting Executive Program, now known as the F. Alan Smith Distinguished Lecture Series. This speaker series was created to attract national leaders in a wide range of industries, typically those impacting transportation, and other subject matter experts to speak to students, faculty and community members at Florida Tech.
Previous speakers have included Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance; retired U.S. Army four-star Gen. Stanley McChrystal; CarMax board Chairman (and Florida Tech trustee) Tom Folliard ‘89; Greg Smith, executive vice president for supply chain at Walmart; and Mike Moses ’91 MS, president, space missions and safety, for Virgin Galactic.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 24 at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 50 W. Strawbridge Ave. in Melbourne. A reception will follow at 12 p.m. at the Hartley Room on the second floor of the Denius Student Center on the Florida Tech campus.
