Mount Honors Outstanding Community Members

NEWBURGH – Mount Saint Mary College honored two outstanding individuals and recognized the newest members of its academic community at the 57th Annual Academic Convocation on September 1.

The college presented Ruth C. Smith ’89 and her husband, John H. Smith, with the prestigious Mount Saint Mary College Community Service Award.

Born and raised in the Hudson Valley and long-time residents of Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, Ruth and John Smith are ardent supporters of the community.

Ruth hails from Wallkill, N.Y. and is a graduate of Wallkill Senior High School. She went on to graduate from the Krissler Business Institute and worked in the accounting department of the DuPont Corporation in Newburgh. A lifelong learner, Ruth pursued her interest in psychology and education at the Mount in the 1980s under the mentorship of Sr. Jean Rosaire Bedotto, OP and Sr. Janice Dionne, OP. She graduated from the Mount with a bachelor’s degree in 1989.

John grew up in Newburgh, graduated from the New York Military Academy, and served two years in the United States Army. He graduated from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania and joined his family’s company, William A. Smith & Son Insurance in 1957, the same year that he and Ruth were married. With John’s leadership and dedication, the firm continues to grow with locations in Montgomery, Poughkeepsie, and Millbrook in addition to the original location on Broadway in Newburgh.

Giving back to their community continues to be a priority for the Smiths. Numerous organizations have benefitted from their guidance and generosity including Mount Saint Mary College; Saint Luke’s Cornwall Hospital, where John served for 29 years as a trustee and past Foundation board chairman; Cornerstone Family Healthcare; Junior League of Newburgh; the Cornwall and New Windsor school districts; Newburgh Rotary Club; Community Chest of Newburgh, the predecessor of United Way of Orange County; and the Johns-Holden Home.

Additionally, John serves as a trustee for the Anne F. Bourne Memorial Fund of the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan. The fund provides grants to Mount Saint Mary College to support scholarships for African American students from Newburgh and outreach efforts for the college’s Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) mentoring courses at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center and other organizations.

The Convocation ceremony also welcomed hundreds of freshmen and transfer students into the Mount’s academic programs and celebrated their first week of study at the college. Dr. David A. Kennett, interim president of the Mount, encouraged students to explore career paths they find the most engaging.

“During the next years you will learn a tremendous amount, not least about yourselves,” he said. “You will develop interests, passions, and friendships that will last a lifetime. Let me give you some advice: pursue the courses and majors that grab your interest…it’s vital to your successful life.”

He added, “Love of a discipline, like all love, requires application and work. It requires late nights and it requires early mornings.”