Professor Terence R. Smith (Terry) formally retired on July 1, 2010 after 34 years as a faculty member of the UCSB Department of Geography and is now Professor Emeritus Terry Smith. The term “emeritus” refers to a professor who has retired but is entitled to retain his academic title and access to university facilities; the term originates from the Latin emeritus – past participle of emereri – “to earn by service.”
Terry has certainly earned his emeritus status. He received an undergraduate degree in geography from Cambridge University in 1965 and a PhD in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1971. He served on the faculties of the University of Western Ontario and of the University of Rochester before coming to UCCB in 1976. Dr. Smith is both a Professor of Geography and a Professor of Computer Science at UCSB. He served as Chair of the Department of Computer Science from 1986-90; he was Associate Director of the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis for the period 1988-90; and, before retiring, he was the director of the Center for Computational Modeling and Systems and the director of the Alexandria Digital Library. His research interests include the design, construction, and use of digital libraries; the provision of computational support for modeling science and engineering activities; and the development of river system evolution theories.
Terry has published over 90 research articles in various disciplines, including geography and computer science, and he’s still on the go: “Rachmaninov used to practice lying in his coffin for 2-3 hours a day. Happy to say, I haven’t got to that point yet, and I’m keeping busy.”
Susanna Baumgart, our former Senior Artist and webmaster, interviewed Terry in 2003, and the following is taken from her “Department History – A Lively Chronicle: 1963-2000, Chapter 4: Simonett Pours the Foundation”:
Early on [1975-76], Simonett [our first Chair] published an ad in professional journals, seeking senior and distinguished professors who were firm believers in quantitative analysis. One of the respondents was Terence (Terry) Smith, from Rochester, New York. He wrote a 10-page letter. Simonett wrote back tersely: “Dear Dr. Smith, You are neither senior nor distinguished, but we think your work is interesting.” Three or four months later, Smith’s phone rang. Simonett: “Smith?” Smith: “Yes.” Simonett: “This is Simonett.” Smith: “Who?” Simonett explains who he is, then asks: “Are you still interesting in a job here?” Smith: “Yes.” Simonett: “When can you come out?” Smith: “In about a month or two.” Simonett: “What about next week?”
Smith made arrangements to fly out. As yet, he knew nothing about Santa Barbara. Simonett, dressed in tennis shoes, met Smith at the airport and drove him directly downtown. He opened the car door at the 1400 block of State Street, saying, “Walk down to the pier. You really should look at this place and make your own mind up.” Smith ambled down State Street to the wharf. Afterwards, he found his way to the Peppertree Inn, in the 3800 block of State Street, where he was to stay.
During the ensuing visit, Smith interviewed and met people. When he was returning to Rochester, standing in line for the airplane out of Santa Barbara, an airport employee walked up to him and said he had a call on the courtesy phone. Smith left the line and picked up the phone. Simonett: “Smith?” Smith: “Yes.” Simonett: “This is Simonett.” Smith: “Yes.” Simonett: “Would you like the job?” Smith: “Yes.” Simonett: “You got it.” When it was time for Smith to move to Santa Barbara, he asked Simonett how he should get there. Simonett replied: “I don’t care how you get here! Come on the smell of an oily rag!” Smith arrived in 1976, the year before Golledge and Tobler.
Simonett was Australian, and “come on the smell of an oily rag” is an Aussie colloquialism for taking a budget (cheap) flight. No matter how Terry got here, we’re certainly glad that the now senior and distinguished Dr. Smith did so.
Article by Bill Norrington
