- Elected president with an annual salary of $2,500
- Led the university through a year of prosperity. Oversaw increasing the endowment and the construction of new buildings, yet failed to receive proper support from the trustees in carrying out his policies
- Quick bio: (1865-1951); Ph.D., LL.D.; spouse: Sallie Lindsay (1889)
Mercerian, "From the Sanctum — The Carnegie Library," April 1906:
"President Smith received a letter from Mr. Carnegie on April the fifth, saying that he would make a gift of twenty thousand dollars for a library building at Mercer, provided that twenty thousand dollars more be raised by the friends of the institution as an endowment fund for the support of the library. This generous gift is the result of a lengthy correspondence between Dr. Smith and Mr. Carnegie, and all join in congratulating the President upon such success."