Stewart Smith '68 Named New Chair
The new chair of Pomona's Board of Trustees comes from a family that is no stranger either to Pomona or to leadership.
The son of an emeritus chair of the board and father of a current Pomona senior, Stewart R. Smith '68 is a member of a family that might be said to bleed Pomona blue. Smith's father, H. Russell Smith '36, was chair of Pomona's board from 1969 to 1987. The younger Smith also has two Pomona alumni siblings--Douglas Smith '71 and Jeanne Ellen James '78--and his son, Graham Smith, is on track to graduate from Pomona in 2001.
Smith, president and CEO of Kinsmith Financial Corporation of San Marino, was named to the board in 1988. During his tenure, he has served as vice chair, a member of the Executive Committee, chair of the Finance Committee, chair of the Nominations Committee, vice chair of the Audit Committee, and as a member of the Buildings and Grounds Committee.
Pomona College President Peter Stanley noted that over that time, "Stewart Smith's counsel to me and to his colleagues on the Board of Trustees has always been to ensure Pomona's continuing preeminence among liberal arts colleges. He has done more than his fair share to achieve that goal, and I look forward to working with him to accomplish even more for Pomona."
Following his graduation with a major in economics, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, Mr. Smith earned his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, cum laude, in 1971. He began his legal career in the U.S. Attorney General's Honors Law Graduates Program in Washington, D.C., where he was involved in antitrust law planning and evaluation. A member of the California State Bar, he returned to Los Angeles in 1973 and practiced general commercial law with the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and Walker. In 1979, he joined Kinsmith Financial Corporation, which provides equity capital to real estate and entrepreneurial business ventures as well as financial and tax planning services.
"Pomona provided me with a valuable education and prepared me well for Harvard Law School and for life," Smith said. "I've always had a warm place in my heart for it, so in 1988, when I was invited to join the Board of Trustees, I jumped at the chance, and it has simply been a wonderful experience."
Active in his community, Mr. Smith serves as vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, president and a director of The H. Russell Smith Foundation, a member of the Board of Overseers of the Huntington Library and a member of the Board of Directors of the Polytechnic School in Pasadena. He is a past president of the San Marino Schools Foundation and the San Marino National Little League.
A resident of San Marino, Mr. Smith is married to Robin A. Ferracone and is the father of four children, Graham, Logan, MacKenzie and Connor.
