Recent obituaries of Dr. G. Warren Smith, former president of Slippery Rock University, reflect the extraordinary range of his interests, which included organic chemistry, university administration, scouting, classical music performing, bicycling, oil lamp collecting, canoeing and more. Few of us were familiar with all of his many activities, and it us understandable that the obituaries abbreviate his many accomplishments.

We would like to add to the list G. Warren Smith’s involvement in Rotary International, the international service organization.

In 1980 G. Warren joined Rotary when he and his wife, Connie, were living in Clear Lake, Texas. Rotary was all male then. Connie remembers being furious that as a University of Houston dean, he was welcome to join while his fellow dean who was a woman couldn’t. She is so glad that shortly after that time women were invited to join Rotary.

From 1984 until 1997, G. Warren was a member of the Hammond, La., Rotary Club while serving as president of Southeastern University. During the fourth year of his presidency at SRU, in 2001, he joined the Slippery Rock Rotary Club.

G. Warren embraced the international humanitarian objectives of Rotary, and in 2008 led a Group Study Exchange to India. In addition to its primary mission of sharing vocational understanding among young American and Indian professionals, the team helped to distribute oral polio vaccines to hundreds of children in India.

When Hank Anna, one of our members, served as district governor, Warren became his conference chairman. The annual meeting that climaxed the year was held on the campus of SRU.

He was always one of Slippery Rock Rotary’s key “idea guys.” For example, he persuaded the Slippery Rock Rotary Board of Directors to revise the way the club implements its annual budget for charitable giving. Dollars raised in the current year (July 1 through July 30) are now spent in the following year. Thus, the next year’s leaders know exactly how much money is available.

G. Warren remained an active Rotarian until the spring of 2020, when his health had deteriorated.

Rotary District 7280 will hold its annual three-day conference in Clarion this May, and Dr. Smith’s achievements will be celebrated in a memorial service at the conclusion of the event. He will be sorely missed.

Judy Hughes is the past district governor, from 2017-18, and Ken Harris is the executive secretary of the Slippery Rock Rotary.