Buies Creek–A Campbell University communication professor will receive the highest honor available from Shippensburg University in Southcentral Pennsylvania.Dr. Michael Ray Smith of Campbell’s Department of Mass Communication was selected to be the Jesse S. Heiges Distinguished Alumnus of the Year for Shippensburg University for 2008.Smith graduated from Shippensburg University in Southcentral Pennsylvania with a master’s of science degree in 1986. Shippensburg is one of the 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.Smith will be formally recognized at Shippensburg’s Alumni Day June 7 where Dr. William N. Ruud, president of Shippensburg, will present the award.”The committee was impressed with the information which accompanied your nomination,” Ruud wrote to Smith.”Shippensburg is where professors such as Al Mason, Alf Pratte, Steve Shenton and Mark Lipper left an impression on graduates who have invaded the world with a passion to be excellent,” Smith said. “That’s the legacy of quality faculty.”A professor of mass communication, Smith also teaches in Campbell’s School of Business. He and his wife, Barbara, a Reading Recovery teacher in Harnett County, have two daughters. Taylor, 16, is a sophomore at Harnett Central High School and a ballerina; Shannon, 26, is married to Michael Ryals, and she works in public relations at Campbell.
Campbell professor nominated as alumnus of the year