Collegiate Leader Alex Smith Retires This Summer

The fact that the Collegiate of today has grown by 20-plus buildings and facilities under his stewardship, along with the School’s endowment, is a testament to his commitment and loyalty.

In addition, he is an alum, having graduated from Collegiate’s Upper School in 1965, before attending Principia College near St. Louis, MO, where he double majored in history and sociology and played football.

He entered the workforce four years later by returning to Collegiate to serve as a Middle School English and science teacher, who also coached football, soccer and track.

Eventually, Mr. Smith recalls, former Collegiate Head of School Mac Pitt, who hired him, encouraged him to stretch and grow.

“He started giving me opportunities besides coaching and teaching. One was in admission. He wanted me to try a lot of things.”

Among the many firsts led by Mr. Smith was the creation of Camp Cougar, the original name of Collegiate’s summer camp program, which was launched in the early 1970s. Mr. Smith also tried his hand at development around that time, and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

Mr. Smith helped establish and strengthen Collegiate’s development office, and in that role, raised funds that reshaped the landscape and grew the breadth of the campus, starting with capital campaigns that led to the construction of Luck Hall and Burke Hall on the Lower School campus.

Overall, he has raised more than $130 million for Collegiate, and his most recent efforts led to the construction of Collegiate’s new Lower School cafeteria, Centennial Hall, as well as the signature Upper School building, the Sharp Academic Commons, which houses the Estes Student Center and the Saunders Family Library.

“It is well near impossible to find words that do justice to Alex’s contributions to Collegiate,” says John O’Neill, Chairman of Collegiate’s Board of Trustees. “With an association that spans more than five decades, examples of Alex’s impact, both tangible and intangible, are manifest. I know that we are Cougars; but every great institution has those few lions whose contributions are unique and transformative. Alex Smith sits among our School’s lions. Simply put, we would not be the Collegiate we are if Alex had not been in our midst.”

For Mr. Smith, his work over these years has been a selfless passion.

“I love my school,” he said matter-of-factly. “Collegiate was a great place for me [as a student], and I’ve just wanted to see Collegiate become better, and be what it can be.”

Even with retirement on the horizon, Mr. Smith is not coasting to the finish. He is in the midst of an effort to help grow Collegiate’s endowment, and to fund capital projects that will improve several buildings and spaces on campus.

“Even though I will not be here next year, I’m really working hard to raise money for what’s next,” said Mr. Smith, whose three children are Collegiate alums and two granddaughters are current Cougars. “A good school never, ever stops trying to be better.”

While he is grateful to have accomplished so much, he doesn’t easily accept the accolades bestowed upon him, choosing instead to focus on the role everyone connected to Collegiate has played in helping shape it into a great school.

“Some nights when I’m here for a meeting and the campus is lit up I will say, ‘Wow - it sure is pretty here,” he said. Even so, “It’s not so much about these buildings, it’s really the relationships. Buildings will come and go. At the end of the day, Collegiate’s DNA is relationships. It has been a great family [to be a part of.]”

What would he like his parting legacy to be?

“It’s pretty simple: Just that, ‘He loved his school.’”