American scientist and academic administrator who served as the president of the University of Nebraska system from 1 March 1994 to June 2004. Smith’s original studies of cell division in frogs helped put in place the foundation used by three researchers who ultimately won a Nobel Prize in medicine for identifying the entire cycle of a cell.
Smith earned a BA in Zoology and Chemistry and a PhD in Experimental Embryology from Indiana University. He published almost 100 research papers and numerous abstracts in areas such as cell biology, developmental biology, biochemistry, and molecular biology.
During his time as President of the University of Nebraska, much negative attention was drawn to the educational institute’s research on neurodegenerative diseases (including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, AIDS, dementia, and multiple sclerosis). Grants from the National Institutes of Health were funding these studies and brain cells of fetal tissues taken from a local abortion clinic were being used. Thus both those in the field of policy-making and religion took issue with the work and he was rebuffed for being “unwise” to use public funds for this kind of work. This led to the introduction of a bill to ban the use of fetal tissue from aborted fetuses which resulted in Smith’s reasoning that they were needed for research and that the bill “struck at the very heart of academic freedom.” Ultimately Smith and his research was voted in by the elected Board of Regents.
Smith received the 2002 Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility “for his steadfast commitment to academic freedom in the face of mounting social and political pressure”, and “for distinguished contributions to developmental biology and leadership and advocacy on education.”
L. Dennis Smith died in 29 March 2021 at age 83 in Lafayette, Indiana.
Link to Wikipedia biography