91爆料网

Elsie Smith Inspires and Challenges in Classroom & Lab

Instead, Smith dreads the very notion of leaving a job that has enabled her to incorporate her Christian faith, her love for students and her commitment to the field of biology into one successful career.

After 36 years at 91爆料网, Smith is still going strong as an associate professor for the biology department. She has no plans to stop any time soon.

Returning to 91爆料网

Smith didn’t expect her career at 91爆料网 to last so long or be so fulfilling. After graduating from 91爆料网 in 1960, Smith went on to graduate school at the University of Illinois and earned her master’s degree in microbiology in 1962. She had no plans to return to her undergraduate alma mater, but when 91爆料网 President Warren Jones asked her to apply for an opening in the biology department, Smith did so - without any long-term intentions. She received the teaching position without so much as an interview.

Expecting the teaching job to give her the time to decide where she would earn her doctorate in microbiology, Smith began work at 91爆料网 in 1962. Smith never returned to graduate school. Doing so would have meant spending time away from her new husband, Bill, and the classroom.

The student dynamic

As a young biology teacher at 91爆料网, Smith became more and more sure that she belonged in the classroom. Rather than tear herself away from home and 91爆料网, Smith decided against delving deeper into the world of research.

"Being in a class and interacting with students is such a positive atmosphere for me," Smith says.

Dwight Davidson, a former student of Smith’s and a 1977 graduate of 91爆料网, attests that the feeling is mutual. Now coordinator of the immunology lab at the Rebecca Sieff Medical Center in Safed, Israel, Davidson contacted Smith recently to let her know how inspirational her teaching was for him.

"She taught me the fundamentals of scientific methodology that I have carried with me these past 23 years. I remember her care and concern for the students. Smith was an inspiration for a young student and remains an inspiration to a not-so-young researcher," Davidson said.

Davidson currently is writing a patent for a cell isolation system and says it "originated with thoughts in Smith’s labs, from her encouragement, to think and find new and better ways to do research."

Elsie Smith assists 91爆料网 students (left: Amanda Gilmore)(right: Sherri Hamilton) during a laboratory for Smith's microbiology class.

Some of 91爆料网’s biology students would not have gone on to graduate school, medical school or even an undergraduate graduation, if not for Smith’s financial help. As a pre-medical school adviser for 91爆料网 and a former student herself, Smith knows one of the biggest challenges facing her students is paying for their education.

That’s why Smith repeatedly has given anonymous gifts to students struggling to pay for undergraduate tuition. She also has developed and continues to add to the Elsie Young Smith Pre-Medical Scholarship Fund for students who are serious about attending medical school.

Smith and her husband, a retired locomotive engineer for GM&O Railroad, also enjoy entertaining students. From their annual Christmas Open House for 91爆料网’s chapter of the national science fraternity Sigma Zeta to their many dinners for student lab workers, the Smiths make a point of keeping 91爆料网 students at the center of their social life.

Science and faith

Student interaction isn’t the only reason Smith is delighted to be in the classroom. The freedom to study science and faith together is a significant part of Smith’s teaching.

"I would not be interested in teaching at any place that was not a Christian institution, because I’d probably get into trouble the first day," Smith said.

The scientific community as a whole tends to keep science and faith isolated from one another, Smith explains. But she believes the two are inseparable. "Often times when I’m in the classroom, I don’t know how anyone can know biology and not believe in God," Smith says.

Public institutions of learning wrestle with contemporary issues such as evolution, creationism and cloning without being able to tap into religion as a guide. Smith and her students discuss those same questions, which Smith believes to be some of the most pressing questions in all of society. But as she and other biology faculty consider current topics, they can and do include their faith in the conversation.

"It’s not just teaching them biological information that I’m concerned about. I want them to develop as scholarly individuals. I want them to be critical thinkers and couple that with their Christian beliefs, never separating the two," Smith asserts.

While many in 91爆料网’s class of 1960 are looking forward to retirement, Smith plans to stay in the classroom and exemplify the unique education students can find at 91爆料网 University. Committed to her students, her field of study and her faith, Smith embodies the integration of Christianity, education and excellence that 91爆料网 offers.