Smith inducted into Hall of Fame at OSU

The College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., recently inducted Lieu Smith into its Hall of Fame. In addition Smith received the Melvin R. Lohmann Medal for outstanding contributions to his profession and to the university as well as serving his community, state and nation with distinction.

Lieu Smith grew up on a wheat farm 10 miles from Okeene, Okla., after moving from Michigan City, Ind., during the Great Depression. All eight grades were taught in the same classroom with one teacher for much of Smith’s grade school experience. As he entered high school, agriculture was one of the basic classes he was required to take each year.

Growing up in a rural area inspired him to major in agricultural engineering with an emphasis on soil and water conservation. He graduated from Oklahoma State with his bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering in 1954 and with his master’s degree in structural engineering in 1957. Smith also spent two years on active duty with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“My undergraduate time at OSU was a major time of adjustment from a small rural school background to a major university setting,” Smith said. “It permitted me to expand my horizons academically and socially as well as mature in my decision- making processes. My time at OSU, followed by going into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a commissioned officer, formed a core structure of who I was and the lifestyle principles that I stood for.”

Smith spent the majority of his engineering career working with the Sverdrup Corporation in St. Louis, where he eventually rose to the rank of corporate vice president of advanced technology. The corporation is now a part of Jacob’s Solutions Engineering Company.

His engineering career started in the early 1960s working with Sverdrup on designing the large rocket test facilities at Stennis Space Center for the Saturn V Program, which ended up sending a man to the moon. This was only one of the well-recognized projects Smith got the opportunity to be a part of. He got to work on, manage and host projects like test facilities for a 300 mph tracked air cushion research vehicle, a 400- mile oil pipeline and marine terminal in the country of Algeria, liquid- and solid-rocket engine test stands for the Space Shuttle and a $240 million Space Shuttle Launch Pad Complex at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

“The Space Shuttle Launch Pad Complex is the project that I am most proud of,” Smith said. “Because it was Air Force-sponsored instead of NASA, with different missions, different payloads and operational requirements, it also presented new as well as constantly changing design requirements. We had a fixed price contract and schedule with the Air Force so there was a constant flow of contract changes along with the design requirement changes.”

Smith’s work as the project manager for the Space Shuttle Launch Pad Complex received numerous awards. On March 5, 1984, the project was featured in Time Magazine and the launch pad complex was described as the “most sophisticated military complex ever built.” Smith’s project earned Sverdrup the 1985 Grand Conceptor Award for excellence in engineering by the American Consulting Engineers Council and the complex was recognized as one of 10 outstanding engineering achievements from the National Society of Professional Engineers.

In 1993, Smith retired to devote his time to working for his church as a self-sustaining ordained minister. He pastored the Berryville Community of Christ for eight years and was awarded the status of “Pastor Emeritus” upon his retirement at the end of 2003. He continued to serve as a hospital chaplain and on a number of committees and boards at Mercy Hospital.

“I have always been mindful that I am in reality an Oklahoma farm boy who grew up on a very marginal farm during the dust bowl days,” Smith said. “Through the encouragement and help from a lot of very good people, I became very successful in my profession, thus it is my intent to give back to society by helping others.”

Smith has practiced helping others through many different professional and community activities. He has been actively involved in the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank of the Ozarks by designing and funding the construction of a new facility for the storage and distribution of food to the needy of Carroll County. He has also endowed a scholarship fund for female Native Americans to become doctors of osteopathic medicine through the OSU Center for Health Sciences.

Continuing to learn about new concepts and figuring out your strengths are two pieces of advice Smith recommends to all students in CEAT.

“Don’t be afraid to venture into new avenues of work that you are not familiar with,” Smith said. “Rockets and spaceships were not even part of our vocabulary when I was in school. Secondly, discover what your best talents are and work to maximize them in your work. I found that mine was being able to organize projects and bring them to a successful conclusion.”