Dr. James W. Smith and Barbara A. Smith Endowed Scholarship

EST.2008

A lifelong Seattle resident, Dr. James W. Smith was born on July 20, 1928, graduated from West Seattle High School, and attended the University of Washington, where he received his medical degree in 1953.

After serving as a naval medical officer with the U.S. Marine Corps, he returned to the Pacific Northwest, where he established a thriving family practice in Burien, Wash. In 1966, Dr. Smith left his private medical practice to join Schick Shadel Hospital as full-time medical director and later as chief of staff. When he began his work in the field of alcoholism treatment, the disease of alcoholism was not well understood. During his 47 distinguished years at Schick Shadel Hospital, he established himself — and was recognized — as a pioneer in the field of addiction medicine, interested in both the treatment of and research into the aspects of all addictions.

Over many years, Dr. Smith devoted considerable energy to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, serving on its board of directors as treasurer and as a member of several committees. In 2006, he received its annual award for outstanding contributions to the society and to the field of addiction medicine.

Dr. Smith held professional memberships and fellowships in a number of organizations, including the King County Medical Society, the Washington State Medical Association, the Research Society on Alcoholism, the Association of Psychosomatic Medicine, the American College of Addiction Treatment Administrators, the International Society of Basic Research on Alcoholism, and the American Geriatric Society.

Barbara A. Smith is a graduate of the University of Washington, having received a B.A. in English in 1970. She and Dr. Smith were married in 1953, shortly after his graduation from medical school. As a young wife and mother, Mrs. Smith was devoted to the support of her husband’s career and their children’s (and later their grandchildren’s) many activities. Mrs. Smith was active as a volunteer in many activities before returning to the University of Washington, where she received a M.S. in exercise physiology in 1984. She loved and shared her husband’s many activities, and she regularly participated in sports and physical activities.

Mrs. Smith rows with Martha’s Moms Rowing Club in Seattle, and she has competed in many national and international events. She maintains a keen interest in education and learning, and is creating this scholarship, along with her children and their families — Lee Ann Smith and Laura Fife, M.D., Lynn Smith and Philip Knowles, Ph.D., and Walter and Denise Smith — to fulfill Dr. Smith’s wishes and to honor him.