Smith, William Lee, 1929-

William L. "Bill" Smith (1929-2008) was an education leader, teacher, reformer, and author who held many top-echelon posts at the U.S. Department of Education and its predecessor the U.S. Office of Education for 37 years. Smith was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Claflin College (Orangeburg, S.C.) and then Wiley College (Marshall, Tex.) and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1949. He returned to Boston and was awarded a fellowship at Boston University. In 1950, he enrolled in the U.S. Army and was sent to Korea. He was among the first African Americans to serve in and thus integrate the army's First Cavalry Division. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion Intelligence Section and he was eventually promoted to the rank of master sergeant and taught military intelligence. He earned a Master's degree from the Massachusetts State Teachers College (now UMass Boston) in 1955. He joined the Cleveland Public Schools as a history teacher at the East Technical High School and in 1965 was hired as principal of Patrick Henry Junior High School, which was a struggling inner city school. Patrick Henry became the best junior high school in Cleveland. His success there propelled him into a national spotlight and he served on the President's National Advisory Council on Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. He began work on a Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University in 1958, and finished it in 1970. He left Patrick Henry and served as executive director of the Program for Action by Citizens in Education (PACE). Smith moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1969 and began work at the Office of Education. From 1971 to 1979, Smith directed Teacher Corps. He was named U.S. Commissioner of Education of the U.S. Office of Education in 1979. He was the only civil service employee to come up through the ranks to become commissioner, he was the first and only African American education commissioner, and he was the very last education commissioner. The Office of Education became the Department of Education in 1980 and Smith continued to hold prominent positions until his retirement in 2006. In 1999 Smith was inducted into the National Alliance of Black School Educator's Hall of Fame. He published many articles in a wide variety of journals and books.

From the description of William L. Smith papers, 1946-2008, bulk 1970-1985. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 426154070