Sally L. Smith, head of the learning disabilities master's program in the College of Arts and Sciences' School of Education, Teaching and Health, died Saturday due to complications from myeloma.
Smith, 78, founded the Lab School of Washington in 1967 as a place where students with learning disabilities could get instruction through an arts-based program and an individualized education plan. She began teaching at AU in 1976.
Smith's work earned her recognition both at AU and across the United States. The university awarded her the Faculty Award for Outstanding Scholarship, Research and Other Professional Contributions in May 1995. The Learning Disabilities Association of America presented her with its LDA Award in recognition of her work on learning disabilities.
Smith was sick at the beginning of the semester and was not teaching any classes as a result. Instead, she helped develop the curriculum for several classes for professors, according to Sarah Irvine Belson, dean of the School of Education, Teaching and Health.
Belson said she came to AU in 1995 to work with Smith.
"She was like a second mother to me, so her passing has been pretty traumatic," she said. "Most people are trying to be strong because Sally was a strong person."
Belson said Smith's death is a loss for both AU and the D.C. area.
"The gray days that we've gone through in the last couple of days remind us that we've lost a really beautiful and strong person," she said.
Kimberly Palombo, graduate assistant for the learning disabilities program, said she met Smith three years ago.
"Sally was an extraordinary, colorful individual," she said. "She made any person that she passed feel special and tirelessly sought out the good in everyone."
Palombo said she has been trying to keep busy since Smith's death.
"It's been very difficult," she said. "I miss her very much. The next few days will be sad, but it will be very hard once I'm done with the semester."
A number of AU students worked at the Lab School as part of the graduate program, according to Palombo.
The relationship between AU and the Lab School will only become stronger, Belson said.
"We want to make sure the program is strong and will grow in the ways [Smith] wanted it to," she said.
People can call on Smith's family from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Joseph Gawler's Sons Inc., at 5130 Wisconsin Ave. N.W. There will be a memorial service in Bender Arena at 2 p.m. Friday, followed by a reception in the Katzen Arts Center.
