Bob and Peg Smith
When Bob and Peg Smith established the Robert E. and Margaret Smith Fund for Technology in 2000, they were well acquainted with the changing landscape of education.

In the 1990s they played a critical role in the campaigns to renovate the original 1913 gymnasium into a center for the arts and to build the technology-rich Smith Center for Science and Communications.

After helping to transform the physical campus, the Smiths decided to make a gift that would forever transform the school’s communications and technology programs. The Smith Fund for Technology provides perpetual financial support for the school’s ongoing technology and communication needs as well as the integration of technology into the curriculum.

Always visionary in their thinking, the Smiths knew that providing the best communications tools was essential to student achievement in the future. These tools are critical in preparing students for a world characterized by global communications, rapid changes, and the demand for continuous learning. Because of the Smith Fund, teachers are able to design curricula where technology is not an add-on, but an inherent requirement for accomplishing their class goals.  In addition, students and faculty have the opportunity to stay on top of a field that is constantly evolving.

Burr and Burton students and faculty thank Bob and Peg Smith for their vision, foresight, and generosity.

Brian Gawlik, a member of the Communications and Information Sciences Department, has been teaching video and television news courses that rely on sophisticated film and editing technology. 

“If you can’t rely on it, you can’t work it into your curriculum,” Gawlik says. He credits the Smith Fund with transforming the school’s technology and communications program. “Since the Smith Fund was established, we have not had one down day due to technology problems,” says Gawlik.

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