Dorothy Ellen Smith
Dorothy Ellen Smith, a three-decade staff member in the registrar’s office, died October 1, 2012, in Bennington, Vt. She was 96.
A lifetime resident of the Saratoga area, she worked as a legal researcher in Albany before joining Skidmore in 1947. Dorothy was the assistant registrar at Skidmore for more than 30 years, retiring in 1979. In the 1960s and ’70s she experienced the college’s transition to co-education and its move to the current campus, and she especially recalled the 1971 student occupation of President Joseph Palamountain’s office to demand greater racial diversity on campus.
Professor Emerita Mary C. Lynn remembered, “Those were the days when the Registrar’s Office used paper and pencil,” and Smith was “very patient with me” as a new faculty member. Mary added, “Dorothy always had a smile for people.”
Outside of work, Dorothy enjoyed traveling and was a leader in her church and in the Business and Professional Women’s Club.
A sister, cousins and a nephew, and a grandnephew survive her.