EU faculty member Gary Smith passes away

In an email sent to Elmhurst University students and faculty, it was announced that Gary Smith, a professor in the department of computer science and information services, passed away on Oct. 19. 

Smith began teaching at EU in 1977 as an adjunct professor and served as the IT program director from 2014-2021. Prior to teaching full time in 2013, Smith was the information technology manager at CNA insurance. 

Over the course of Smith’s time at EU, he was able to make connections with many students and faculty all over campus. 

Assistant professor in the department of computer science and information systems, Dean Jensen, will remember Smith for his great impact on students and their conversations in the hallway before classes. 

“Prof. Smith had a tremendous impact on his students, as he taught many of the core classes in the Computer Science, Information Systems, and Information Technology majors,” said Jensen in an email to The Leader. 

Jensen continued, “He also taught several First Year Seminar classes over the years, so his reach was truly across campus. Because of his FYS class and IT Program Director responsibilities, he literally would advise a hundred or more students each year, and was always eager to volunteer for freshman advising in the summer.”

Smith led the Information Technology completion program and worked with Jensen to create the Cybersecurity major. Prior to his passing, Smith was working on making changes to the program to include mobile application development and project management to keep the IT program up to date. 

Janet Perezchica, a senior at EU and former student of Dr. Smith’s, was happy she was able to have him as a professor and be in one of his classes. 

“Mr. Smith was a really nice professor, I was happy that I got to have him for a couple of months at the start of the semester,” said Perezchica. 

Minh Nguyen, an EU junior and former Leader writer was shocked at the news and heartbroken that the professor that he had just spoken to a couple of days ago had passed away. 

“Even though I did not have much interaction with Dr. Smith, I really admire him for being such a responsible and dedicated professor till his last breath. It’s just really sad,” said Nguyen. A memorial visitation was held on Oct. 24 at Humes Funeral home in Addison, Illinois.