Chitra Smith was born in 1922 to Czech parents in Jerusalem, Palestine. She earned her bachelors (1943) and masters (1946) degrees from Oxford University. After this, she taught adult education courses at Oxford and then worked for the British Ministry of Information and for the U. S. Government in Germany. She married Bruce Lannes Smith in 1946 but they alter divorced (1973). Smith then worked at the American University in Washington D.C. and at the Ilinois Institute of Technology before coming to MSU. She join MSU as an instructor in 1954 for the Department of Social Science. In 1964, she completed her examinations for a Ph. D. from MSU. In 1968, she moved to the new James Maidson College as an associate professor and later as the Associate Director of the Honors College in 1976. Chitra Smith retired in 1989 and died April 8, 2021. Topics/People Covered in Interview include: early life, education, World War II, Labor Club, Oxford University, Iris Murdoch, Sir William Beveridge, Winston Churchill, Dorothy Wurtenberg, Agnes Leys, Pusey House, Bill Ross, Asian Studies Center, Ruce L. Smith, Jospeh McCarthy, reductions in force, Rand Corporation, Leroy Ferguson, Walter Fee, University College, James Madison College, Herb Garfinkel, Teresa (Terry) O'Sullivan, Mary Norton, Mike MccOnnell, Orrin Hatch, Richard Zinman, Jack Painter, John Hannah, Clifton Wharton, Kathy Hunt, Paul Hunt, Eric Goodman, Tess Tavormina, Gwen Norrell, Pauline Adams, Doouglas Dunham, Stan Idzerda, Frank Blackington, Jimm Pickering, Lee Winder, Don Lammers, Warren Cohen, Lou Anna K Simon, David Scott, Laurence Boger, affirmative action, James Ash, John Cantlon
Read
