[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 27071]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     GREG SMITH: EDUCATOR, HUMANITARIAN, SCHOLAR AND CHAMPION FOR 
                          ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 12, 2007

  Ms. HARMAN. Madam Speaker, on Saturday, October 20, 2007, California 
State University Dominguez Hills, CSUDH, will celebrate the dedication 
of the Greg Smith Memorial Garden on its campus. Inspired by the late 
Professor Smith's appreciation of nature, commitment to the 
preservation of the environment, and love for CSUDH, the Memorial 
Garden will serve as a lasting legacy to this extraordinary father, 
husband, activist, scholar, and teacher. Supported by his widow, June 
Smith, her family, and many friends, this garden will provide, as June 
says, ``a place where people can have quiet contemplation and 
appreciate nature.''
  Greg Smith was a city of San Pedro resident, a leader in my district 
who became a faculty member at CSUDH in 1968 because he wanted to give 
back to his community. He taught with intelligence and passion, but 
most importantly he taught from the heart.
  A noted scholar and educator, Greg took his students all over Los 
Angeles so that they could better understand the demographics and 
issues of the different communities within LA County. Greg was a 
political geographer who not only studied how the shifting political 
landscape affected the world, he became actively involved in 
organizations such as the California Coastal Commission and Los Angeles 
Tree Commission in order to influence the preservation of the 
environment in California.
  Greg retired from CSUDH in 1992 after having inspired and touched 
thousands of students, staff and faculty colleagues. It was 5 years 
after his retirement, while hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, that 
Greg died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 66.
  Greg was a role model to those who knew him and inspired many to 
continue his efforts to preserve the environment. His research on 
environmental stability, preservation of mountain tops, land surface 
design and river water containment contributed greatly to the Nation's 
knowledge base and ability to preserve agricultural and natural 
resources.
  Greg met his wife June, a professor of English at Harbor Community 
College, while they were undergraduates at Reed College in Portland, 
OR. They have been residents and active members of the San Pedro 
community since the late 1960s and have 2 children, Gilia and Cyrus, 
and a grandson, Hudson Gregory.
  I am proud that Greg Smith was my constituent. I am delighted that 
his family and CSUDH will be honoring the memory of this extraordinary 
individual with the Greg Smith Memorial Garden.

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