Memorial services set for Dr. Dudley Smith
COLLEGE STATION – Dr. Dudley Smith, a professor emeritus and former administrator in Texas A&M AgriLife Research, then known as the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, died June 8.
The family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. June 12 at Callaway-Jones Funeral Center in Bryan. There will be an inurnment at 10 a.m. June 13 at College Station City Cemetery, 2530 Texas Ave. South. A memorial service will follow at 11 a.m. at Christ United Methodist Church, 4201 Texas Highway 6.
Smith served Texas A&M University System for 38 years, retiring in 2006.
In 1968, he established a weed research program in cotton in the High Plains at the Texas A&M Center at Lubbock, with emphasis on weed biology and competition, herbicide efficacy and environmental studies.
He moved to College Station in 1973 to serve as assistant director and later associate director of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station until 1996. He provided administrative oversight for statewide research programs in crops, livestock and natural resources.
Over the course of two decades, he dealt with research federal compliance reviews, hosted animal rights visitors and oversaw regulatory programs in honeybees and feed and fertilizer compliance. He also served as board chairman for international research consortiums on sorghum and later, peanuts.
In 1996, Smith assumed a faculty position in the department of soil and crop sciences at Texas A&M University. He worked closely with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture and commodity groups to obtain pesticide registrations for specialty crops.
Much of his work culminated in a book, “The Crops of Texas,” which described the production, pest problems and marketing niches of 200 crops of economic importance to Texas and southwestern agriculture.
Other research included sustainable agriculture and integrated pest management, economic impacts of chemical use and international agriculture. He published over 100 scientific articles and papers, plus invited presentations at European conferences.
Smith received achievement awards for his classroom teaching, and he was a member of several societies. He was selected as a Fellow in the American Society of Agronomy.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and masters in agronomy at the University of Maryland, a doctorate in weed science/crop science at Michigan State University in 1968, and an executive MBA from the University of Houston in 1982.
Upon retirement, Smith and his wife Angela endowed several scholarships for graduate student travel in agronomy and horticulture, along with funding a fellowship for a doctoral student and undergraduate scholarships.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial may be sent to the Texas A&M Foundation, for account 57967 – Graduate Student Travel Awards in the soil and crop science department. 401 George Bush Drive, College Station, TX 77840-2811.
