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November 5, 2007

Rev. Philip Smith, former PC president, dies

PROVIDENCE -- The Rev. Philip Alphonsus Smith, who served as the 11th president of Providence College from 1994 to 2005, died at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence yesterday, the college announced today. He was 74.

The college said on its Web site today that Father Smith died unexpectedly and was surrounded by close friends. He was more recently a philosophy professor at the college and a member of the Dominican Community of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory on campus.

"Under Father Smith, the college achieved a reputation as a premier regional liberal arts institution, raising the academic standing of its undergraduates to its highest level ever," the college's statement said. "Providence College was consistently ranked #2 among colleges and universities in the north region in U.S. News & World Report’s annual college guide, America's Best Colleges."

Father Smith was awarded the college's highest honor, the Veritas Medal, at the 87th commencement in May 2005, recognizing "his many achievements and commitment to the academic standing and mission of the college."

A new performing arts center on college's east campus was named after Father Smith on Oct. 29, 2004.

The college said Father Smith "enhanced the quality and diversity of the faculty; directed a revision of the mission statement to emphasize the Catholic and Dominican traditions of [Providence College]; and oversaw $110 million in new construction and infrastructure improvements, including the construction of St. Dominic Chapel, a new performing arts center, and the campus’ first suites-style residential facility."

“Father Smith ably led Providence College through eleven years of opportunity and growth,” said college President Rev. Brian J. Shanley. “Under his guidance, the academic profile of our student body dramatically improved and the campus landscape was transformed."

Father Smith's body will be received at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary in St. Thomas Aquinas Priory on campus on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 4 p.m. Calling hours will follow, concluding with the recitation of the Office of the Dead by the Dominican Community at 7 p.m.

A Mass of Christian Burial for Father Smith will be held Friday, Nov. 9, at 10 a.m. in St. Dominic Chapel on campus. Burial will follow in the Dominican Community Cemetery on campus.

Donations may be made in his memory to the Rev. Philip A. Smith, O.P. Scholarship Fund, in care of Providence College, Office of Institutional Advancement, 549 River Ave., Providence, R.I., 02918.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Born Sept. 6, 1933, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, Father Smith was a son of the late Philip and May (Byrne) Smith. According to the college, he was raised on a 100-acre farm in Fort Augustus, east of Charlottetown, and went to Webster Corner School, a one-room schoolhouse, from grades 1 through 10 then finished high school at St. Dunstan’s School in Charlottetown. He came to the United States in 1959.

Father Smith entered the novitiate of the Dominican Order (Order of Preachers), Province of St. Joseph, at St. Joseph Priory in Somerset, Ohio, in 1961, and made his first religious profession there the next year.

He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on June 13, 1968, at St. Dominic Church in Washington D.C. by the Most Rev. Ernest B. Boland, then-bishop of Multan, Pakistan, and now a resident of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory at PC.

Father Smith served the Dominican Order as a priest for nearly 40 years.

He joined the Providence College faculty in 1981 as an assistant professor of philosophy. He became associate professor in 1984 and professor in 1994. From 1982 to 1985, he was also the special assistant to then-college president the Very Rev. Thomas R. Peterson.

Posted by Mike McKinney at 3:55 PM | Permalink

Comments

Who cares? He was a bigot and a liar.

J Scarli | November 5, 2007 4:22 PM link

J Scarli, it's obvious and unfortunate that you never had the opportunity to meet and befriend Fr. Phil. He was a great man who cared deeply about those whose paths he crossed. Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing him would agree that the world and their lives are better for having met him. I don't know what drives someone to make such a caustic remark, but I hope that people don't dismiss your life with such casual and insensitive ease, although I wouldn't be too surprised if that were the case, based on your lone comment.

Will | November 12, 2007 3:44 PM link

November 5, 2007

Rev. Philip Smith, former PC president, dies

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