Leonard J. Smith

SMITH, Leonard J. Born July 3, 1917, passed away in Los Angeles on January 29, 2009. Born in New York City, he received a BS and MA at New York University specializing in Personnel and Industrial Management. He was a pioneer in the new field of Human Resources and a founding member in 1948 of the American Society of Personnel Managers, now known as the Society for Human Resources Management. SHRM today is an international organization with a membership in excess of 250,000. Leonard was highly respected and acknowledged for his contributions to the organization and the field. In his 40 years of professional life, he served as a consultant and educator for industry, health care and government organizations in the USA and world wide. He authored the book "Collective Bargaining" which was published by Prentice Hall in 1946 and has written countless articles for professional publications. He lectured at Rutgers University and was a Senior Adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University and served there also as a volunteer track coach. Over the years he has been known and honored for his financial support of many educational, charitable, and medical institutions and organizations in Israel and the United States. A favorite method of support has been to establish scholarships. Some of the recipients of his philanthropic activity are Bar Ilan University, America Technion Society, American Friends of Hebrew University and the University of Judaism. Diagnosed with prostate cancer, he became actively involved in educating others by volunteering for the American Cancer Society. He started a network of prostate support groups in Florida and wrote a newsletter that was distributed both in Florida and California where he had moved in 2000. He is survived by his beloved wife of seventy years, Ethel; children Gail Buckley and Neil Smith; grandchildren Loren Philip, Amy Smith and Michael Buckley: two great-grandchildren Stella Philip and Virginia Buckley and daughter-in-law Ruth Smith and son-in-law Daniel Buckley.