By Jade Wimpey, Class of 2016
Office of Media Relations
Stan B. Smith has always wanted to take a leisurely drive across the United States. And now he’ll get a chance to do just that. After 50+ years of state service (46 years at Clemson), Clemson University’s registrar has announced his retirement.
Smith joined the university as an admissions counselor in 1968. He traveled all over South Carolina to various high schools sharing the Clemson name with future student generations. Four years later, he was promoted to assistant registrar. There he helped students navigate the registration process, which, at the time, was all done by hand on perforated registration forms. Smith was named registrar in 1981. Today, he still assists students and supports the online iRoar registration implementation, which he referred to as his newest challenge.
Smith has accomplished so much over his years serving the university and can boast a few facts that few others can. Out of the 15 presidents who have presided over Clemson University, Smith has worked for half of them.
“Looking back over my years at Clemson I have had the privilege to be present during eight of those administrations. That’s a special ‘memory chip,’” he said.
Clemson presented Smith with the Thomas Green Clemson Award of Excellence in 2004. While appreciative of this accolade, the ever-humble Smith states that one of his biggest accomplishments at Clemson is the registrar office’s exceptional staff.
“Attracting and maintaining an experienced staff that has provided consistent long-term quality service to students and faculty throughout the years,” said Smith, “[leads to] an excellent record of 29 current employees with 299 total years working in records and registration. That comes to an average of about 10 years service each!”
The registrar maintains that if his employees enjoy and want to continue working for the university throughout the years, it means that they want to stay a part of the Clemson family, and that’s the real accomplishment.
Some wise advice Smith offered to current employees is to “be thankful for the opportunity to have meaningful work in a wholesome environment with other like-minded employees.”
After 50 years of all his hard work, Smith has some pretty extravagant plans during his retirement. In addition to driving across the country with his wife, Smith wants to finish completing the 2,181-mile Appalachian Trail. He and his wife have already conquered most of it, except for the trail section in New Hampshire and Maine. Smith also wants to take his future time to pleasure read, do a little gardening, and serve his community through church activities. One of the things he looks forward to most is spending time with his six grandchildren.
While Smith may be retiring from Clemson University, he won’t be leaving the Clemson family. We wish him well as he enjoys this next chapter of his life.
Retirement reception scheduled
Wish Smith well at a retirement reception, taking place from 3-4:30 p.m. March 25 in the Alumni Center lobby.
