- Date Of Death: April 25, 2015
- State: Pennsylvania
Dr. Donald M. Smyth, 85, of Bethlehem, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, April 25, 2015, at St. Lukes University Hospital “” Fountain Hill. He was the loving husband of Elisabeth (Luce) Smyth, with whom he shared over 64 years of marriage. Born in Bangor, ME, he was the son of the late Robert J. and Selma (Eubanks) Smyth. Dr. Smyth became an influential scientist, a dedicated scholar, and a respected professor at Lehigh University. He was a beloved husband and father and an irreplaceable mentor and friend, whose passionate pursuit of knowledge led to a career that spanned the globe. After graduating from the University of Maine in 1951, Dr. Smyth earned a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1954. He worked for 16 years in research and development at Sprague Electric Company in North Adams, MA, before moving to Lehigh University as director of the Materials Research Center in 1971. His specialty was defect chemistry, which has applications ranging from medical imaging to submarine detection. Though he retired in 1995, Dr. Smyth continued to work in his Whitaker Laboratory office four days a week, where he collaborated with emerging scientists on research projects, reviewed papers for the Journal of Applied Physics and the Journal of the American Ceramic Society, and frequently joined the Whitaker lunch crowd for spirited conversations with his colleagues of many years. He was a beloved mentor of Martin Harmer, who succeeded him in Directorship of the Materials Research Center in 1992. His work carried him to many lands, including Japan, Denmark, Germany, and England, and included extensive contact with China through a joint research project with two Chinese universities. His book, Defect Chemistry of Metal Oxides, was reprinted in China, and he taught a course of the same name for many years at Lehigh. Dr. Smyth received numerous honors over the years, beginning with the top international research award for batteries from the Electrochemical Society at age 29. He spent a term as chairman of the Materials Research Advisory Committee for the National Science Foundation, and also served on the Council for Materials at the U.S. Department of Energy. He was a fellow of the American Ceramics Society, from which he received many awards including its top honor, the Robert B. Sosman Award, 1996. That same year, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest honors accorded to engineers in the United States. On the occasion of his 80th birthday, Dr. Smyth was honored with a special session at the Materials Science & Technology Conference and Exhibition in Houston, when he received a certificate citing “decades of leadership at the frontiers of research” to honor his influence on scientific understanding and his effect on the development of future generations of scientists and engineers. In his spare time, Dr. Smyths interests ranged across history and the arts. He was a dedicated reader with an encyclopedic knowledge of current events and history, as well as a passion for classical music. His love of knowledge and pursuit of scientific truth had a tremendous impact that reached beyond his circle of friends and family to encompass the world. Survivors: Dr. Smyth is survived by his loving wife Elisabeth; his daughters,art historian Carolyn Smyth of Rome, Italy, and novelist Joanne Kennedy of Colorado. He was predeceased by his brother, Robert Smyth.
