Smith Named President Emeritus : Ex-Chapman Chief Now a Consultant

G. T. (Buck) Smith, chancellor and former president of Chapman College, has resigned from the college to become an education consultant.

His resignation, effective Sept. 1, coincided with an action by the college Board of Trustees naming him as president emeritus. Smith said he still will make his residence in Villa Park, although as an independent consultant he will be traveling nationally and internationally.

Smith, 52, was president of Chapman for 11 years until he resigned that position in May and was named chancellor. He said Thursday that the position of chancellor was created only for a few months’ transition period during which the acting president, James Doti, took over.

“That period is over, and since the titles of ‘president’ and ‘chancellor’ leave some confusion in people’s minds about who’s in charge, the Board of Trustees believed that the title of ‘president emeritus’ would better signify my continuing relationship with the college,” Smith said.

The position of chancellor will now be abolished, Smith said. The college is continuing its national search for a full-time president, he added.

In his role as president emeritus, Smith said he will continue to help raise funds for the four-year, private liberal arts college in Orange. But he noted that he is now free to travel widely to other colleges as a speaker and as a consultant.

“I am eager now to focus my full energies on helping other (college) presidents and trustees . . . , “ Smith said.

George L. Argyros, chairman of Chapman’s Board of Trustees, praised Smith’s service to the college. Argyros said: “Under President Smith, Chapman reaffirmed its enterprising spirit and is increasingly recognized for its quality and financial strength. We are grateful for his leadership over the years and are glad to affirm his permanent relationship with the college as president emeritus.”

Smith has been credited with rescuing Chapman from a serious downturn in enrollment and funding in the late 1970s. When he took over as president in August, 1977, the college was about $4 million in debt and enrollment was declining. Since then, Chapman’s net worth has increased from $6.6 million to more than $53 million, and its endowment has increased from $874,000 to $25 million. Enrollment has increased 60% in the past six years and now stands at about 2,100 students.

“I think Chapman College has now moved beyond being well-known locally and statewide and has become a prominent college at the national level,” Smith said.

Before coming to Chapman, Smith was vice president of the College of Wooster in Ohio, where he had been an administrator since 1962.