Walter L. Smith (scholar)

Walter Lee Smith (May 13, 1935 – November 25, 2021) was an American academic administrator who was president of Florida A&M University (FAMU), serving from 1977 until 1985.

[1][2] The privately-owned Walter L. Smith Library has a collection and hold programs related to African American history.

[3] He worked for the U.S. government on federal school desegregation programs and at the Kennedy Space Center developing educational curriculum for engineering assistants on the Saturn V program before becoming an administrator at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa and then Roxbury Community College in Massachusetts.

FAMU's campus includes the Walter L. Smith Architecture Building [6] Florida State has a scholarship program in his honor.

[9] He sued FAMU President Frederick Humphries accusing him of withholding a payment over professional rivalry.