Leslie Harris Smith Award is awarded by the VSRC and is named for:
From the AARC announcement:
Leslie Harris Smith, MS, RRT, 48, passed away on January 13, 2001 after a courageous life cut short by the devastating effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Leslie was the Clinical Coordinator, and then Director, of the Respiratory Therapy Program at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia, from 1981 to 1996 when she was forced to slow down due to the consequences of her illness. Using distant learning and electronic technologies to overcome the physical limitations imposed by her disease, Leslie continued teaching part-time through the end of the Fall semester 2000. She was an active member of the Virginia Society for Respiratory Therapy, serving as chair of the educator’s group for many years. Her many contributions are recognized annually by the VSRC through the its award of the Leslie Harris Smith Scholarship to students enrolled in respiratory therapy educational programs throughout the state.
Leslie received her AS degree from the Northwest Mississippi Junior College Respiratory Therapy Program in 1973, her BS degree from the Respiratory Therapy Program at Georgia State University in 1978, and her MS from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1983. She was a remarkable human being, a generous person with enormous energy, and a gifted and dedicated respiratory therapy educator who will be greatly missed by her friends and colleagues in the respiratory therapy community. Leslie is survived by her husband and two children, her parents and sisters, and countless respiratory therapists who had the great opportunity to cross her path over the course of the past 30 years.
Application process for 2008 is closed.
Scholarship Information and Application Requirements
email application and original essay to: vsrclhs@cox.net