Alden Smith Appointed Director Of University Scholars Program

May 10, 2000

by Lori Scott Fogleman

Baylor University President Robert B. Sloan Jr. has announced the appointment of Dr. R. Alden Smith, associate professor and chair of Baylor's department of classics, as director of the University Scholars Program. He succeeds Dr. Bruce C. Cresson, who is retiring.
A native of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Smith received a bachelor's degree from Dickinson College, a master of arts degree from the University of Vermont and a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the Baylor faculty in 1994, he taught at the University of Vermont, the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University. Smith has authored a number of books and articles in his areas of scholarly interest, which include Augustan poetry, Greek poetry, Hellenistic and Roman art. One of the developers and the director since 1994 of the Baylor in Italy program, Smith also has been a faculty sponsor and serves on the board of trustees of the national classics honor society Eta Sigma Phi, as well as historian of the Phi Beta Kappa chapter at Baylor. A member of the World Cultures II faculty in Baylor's Interdisciplinary Core Curriculum, Smith's lectures focus on art and literature, including Du Fu, Li Bai, Dante, Boccaccio, Machievelli, and the art of China and India.
The University Scholars Program is a broad-based academic program that allows students to pursue a wide range of courses in one or more academic disciplines. Each scholar is assisted throughout his or her college career by a faculty advisor who calls upon other professors in appropriate departments for assistance in serving the needs of the scholar. Graduates will be able to enter graduate school, seek employment or attend professional schools which do not impose a massive list of specific undergraduate required courses.