Oldest graduate, WWII veteran to receive Ph.D.

When Richard Smith was born, Calvin Coolidge was president and the foxtrot was king. No Great Depression – yet.

On Saturday, the 87 year old, World War II veteran will be the oldest person ever to graduate from FIU – with a doctorate in history.

Smith, who will be among more than 3,400 students receiving their degrees this summer, will participate in one of three commencement ceremonies on Saturday, Aug. 13, at the U.S. Century Bank Arena, located on FIU’s Modesto Maidique Campus, 11200 S.W. 8th St. in southwest Miami-Dade County.

“Completing this Ph.D. is one of my proudest moments,” said Smith, who enrolled in the program when he was already in his 80s, and completed his dissertation on John Sherman, the lesser known brother of Civil War General William Sherman. “Anyone out there who thinks it is too late to go back to school, I’m here to tell them it’s not and it’s worth it.”

Smith had finished his freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania before he was called into the Air Corps and sent to fight in Europe. There, the Boston native was on the crew of a B-24 that bombed Germany and also dropped supplies and spies over Norway, Denmark and Sweden. For his service, Smith received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal, among other recognitions.

After the war, Smith finished his bachelor’s degree, married, had three children and ran a successful women’s clothing company founded by his father.

He will graduate during the 7:30 p.m. ceremony.

“Each commencement brings new stories of Panthers turning the impossible into the inevitable,” said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. “To have a member of the Greatest Generation with us on Saturday fills us with pride and admiration for a man whose courage and passion for learning led him to this tremendous achievement.”

This will be FIU’s first summer commencement. The ceremonies have been added to accommodate the growing number of students graduating, which is up to nearly 10,000 graduates this year compared to 7,200 five years ago.

Other Worlds Ahead graduates whose accomplishments will be recognized during the three ceremonies include an engineering student whose research looks to improve orthopedic implants, a nursing student who is going back to the classroom as a professor and students who distinguished themselves in business.

The full commencement schedule is as follows:

Ceremony 1: 10:00 a.m.

School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

School of Journalism and Mass Communication

College of Education

College of Nursing and Health Sciences

College of Architecture + The Arts

College of Engineering and Computing

Ceremony 2: 3:00 p.m.

College of Business Administration

Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work

Ceremony 3: 7:30 p.m.

College of Arts and Sciences

For more details about FIU’s summer commencement, please visit commencement.fiu.edu.