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Glenville State University Athletics

OFFICIAL ATHLETICS SITE OF THE GLENVILLE STATE PIONEERS

Hall of Fame

Keith Smith

Keith Smith

  • Class
    1964
  • Induction
    2011
  • Sport(s)
    Football
Name: Keith Smith, Athlete
Class of: 1964
Keith Smith is a native of New Martinsville and Charleston, WV resident was a four year letterman in football (defensive end, punter, and place kicker). Offensively, he led his team in scoring with 29 points in 1961. In 1962, Keith was the Sixteenth Ranked Small College Punter in the Nation. Smith was named Second Team WVIAC All-Conference in 1961 (defensive end) and First Team WVIAC All-Conference in 1962 (defensive end). He was selected to the Second Team Little All American Academic Football Team in 1961. Keith was a Student Assistant Football Coach in 1963. He was Vice President of Student Council at GSC and also played tennis while in college. For a time, Smith taught at Wheeling Central and coached football, wrestling, and tennis, where his tennis team won the State Catholic Championship. He also played 2 years of Semi Professional Football for the Wheeling Ironmen then went back to school and received his master's degree in counseling at the University of Toledo. Smith was named to the WVIAC 50th Anniversary All Conference Team. He coached competitive club soccer for ten years in Kanawha County and in 1988 was named the West Virginia Boy's Soccer Coach of the Year. Keith earned his PhD from Ohio State and worked at the West Virginia State Department of Education in various capacities, including being Director of the Division of Special Education and Student Support Services and later becoming the Assistant State Superintendent for Instruction. After his work in the State Department, Smith was involved in writing two National Science Foundation Grants for improving Math and Science in rural places in the Appalachia Education Region. He has worked with the Appalachia Rural Systemic Initiative which covers six states, these being West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, southeast Ohio, and western North Carolina. Since 2001, he has worked with the Appalachian Coal Field Rural Systemic Initiative in southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia. Keith married his college sweetheart, Mary Jo Nocida Smith '64, who was homecoming queen and also a cheerleader. They are parents of two adult children, Julie Potter of Reisterstown, MD and Michael Smith of Knoxville, TN. They also have one grandson, Brett Potter.
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