Smith leaves as he came in: Quietly
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by matthew Hansen
The questions are exhausted. The interview is over.
And one last time, the outgoing president of the University of Nebraska is offered that final journalistic freebie: Anything else you'd like to add?
Yes, yes, there is, but not about his successes as president, or his failures, or how he hopes to be remembered.
L. Dennis Smith would like to recommend a book.
It's called "A Clone of Your Own?" and it explains cloning and stem cell research in a way the layperson (or the reporter) can understand.
It's a good read, he says. It's also insight into a man who, even after a decade at the helm of the University of Nebraska's four-campus system, considers himself more professor than president.
Smith's professorial past seemingly affected most of the big decisions he made in his 10½ years as university president.
The former cell biology researcher defended the University of Nebraska Medical Center's controversial research that uses aborted fetal tissue, drawing ire from Gov. Mike Johanns, Catholic leaders and anti-abortion groups.
He stressed the importance of research and oversaw an unprecedented boom in NU's research funding.
He fought to reward what university leaders considered above-average professors and programs with bonuses, then fought to protect them from cuts during NU's massive budget shortfall.
He's faced criticism for his insular style and the related decision (or maybe failure) to not make himself the public face of NU.
But that same personality allowed Smith to constantly question NU's direction, a devil's advocate debating style well-known to freshman philosophy students everywhere.
A dean or chancellor had better do his or her homework before approaching the president with an idea, or face the equivalent of a red pen.
"Dennis was tough," says longtime Regent Don Blank of McCook. "He was demanding. He made chancellors and everyone accountable.
"And the university is better for it."
Smith's first tough test came mere days after taking over as president in March 1994.
He had spent most of his career as a biology professor and department head at Purdue University and the University of California-Irvine.
That experience didn't prepare him much for his first directive from NU's Board of Regents: Make the four NU schools - the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of Nebraska at Kearney and the medical center - work together, ending what Smith calls an "open warfare for resources."
The four universities always had submitted their respective budget proposals directly to the Legislature, in effect lobbying against each other for the same pot of money, a process that bred mistrust.
Smith centralized the process, allowing only one budget to be sent to the Legislature. He forced the integration of smaller things such as e-mail services.
The cooperation got easier in 1995, when he brokered a compromise with Omaha business leaders demanding an engineering school in the state's largest city.
The resulting Peter Kiewit Institute is now often held up by regents and business leaders as Smith's greatest achievement.
The increased cooperation also has helped UNL, Chancellor Harvey Perlman says, even though some have wondered if strengthening NU's other campuses weakens its flagship in Lincoln.
"I would much rather spend my time figuring out how to compete with Ohio State than with UNO," Perlman said. "That's what we were doing before (Smith) got here."
The university found itself at odds with the state's governor and Catholic leaders in 1999, when published reports surfaced that the medical center was using fetal tissue provided by Omaha Dr. LeRoy Carhart in a research project.
Smith flatly denied Johanns' request to end the research, saying the university wouldn't give up its academic freedom because of political or religious pressure.
Five years later, he's still staunchly defending fetal tissue and embryonic stem cell research.
"There's no obvious reason why somebody wouldn't have done that kind of research," he says. "Most scientists would think the research was clearly in the best public interest."
The university also secured $95million in mostly state funding to maintain and renovate campus buildings during Smith's tenure.
And he led an effort to identify NU's top programs and then pour money into them, putting into action the theory that improving top programs will improve the entire school.
During his tenure - the second-longest ever for an NU president - Smith remained somewhat of a mystery to those outside Varner Hall, where the university's central administration is headquartered.
He was a public figure who stayed largely unrecognizable to the public, and a university president whom most professors never knew, according to UNLFaculty Senate President Wes Peterson.
"A typical faculty member hasn't had anything to do with Varner Hall at all," Peterson says. "I think some of that comes from the way the university is structured, and some of that is his choice."
Blank and Perlman think Smith fulfilled his obligation as the university's public face.
They also think new NU President J.B. Milliken will more readily embrace the political aspects of the job. Milliken starts work next week with a three-day goodwill tour across the state.
"Dennis is very much an academic," Perlman says. "The puzzles of managing internal affairs (are) the issues that intrigued him probably more than being the public face of a university.
"(Now) the internal affairs are in good order. It frees J.B. to build support externally."
While Milliken gets his feet wet, Smith will begin to prepare for a return to the classroom.
He'll take a six-month leave and then teach developmental biology and bioethics at UNL, a faculty position far from the public spotlight.
Staying virtually unknown to the average Nebraska resident, professor and student during his presidency makes it easy to underestimate Smith's contribution to the university.
It may take a history professor to right that wrong, Perlman thinks.
"When the history of the institution is written 100 years from now, this period of time, his presidency, will be remembered as a good one for the university."
Reach Matthew Hansen at 473-7245 or mhansen@;journalstar.com.
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