- Gerald W. Smith
Gerald W. Smith (born
1 December 1929 ,Des Moines ,Iowa , U.S.) is the Americanauthor of "Engineering Economy: Analysis of Capital Expenditures" (Iowa State Press) the textbook used by several generations ofIndustrial Engineering college students from around the world. He is anEmeritus Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering atIowa State University inAmes, Iowa where he was aProfessor ofIndustrial Engineering from 1956-1988. He received degrees inEngineering fromIowa State University with a Bachelor of Science in 1952, Masters of Science in 1958, P.H.D. in 1961. His 1958 masterstheses was entitled "The Obsolescence Allowance in Equipment Replacement Decisions" and his 1961 P.H.D.dissertation "Regulatory Policies on Liberalized Depreciation and Their Effects Upon Public Utilities."Four editions of his textbook were published in 1968, 1973, 1979, and 1987. While writing his book, Smith worked in his home office next to a window overlooking the house next door where
Iowa State University professor John Vincent Atanasoff had lived while building the world's first electronic digitalcomputer from 1937-1942.He served in virtually all of the Offices of the Engineering Economy Division of
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), including the chairmanship. In 1964 he was Iowa State's representative at the General Electric Professors conference; in 1968-1971 he was designated Iowa State'sAlcoa Professor; in 1969 he was recipient of the Eugene L. Grant Award for best paper in The Engineering Economist from theAmerican Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). From 1970 - 1976 he served that journal as an associate editor for Book Reviews; he has also served on the editorial board of IIE Transactions. He and his graduate students contribute gratis their efforts in the annual publication Engineering Economy Abstracts, which he originated. In 1974 he received the Iowa State University Faculty Citation; in 1981 he received the Outstanding Teacher Award from Iowa State's College of Engineering; in 1986 the Engineering Economy Division of the Institute for Industrial Engineers named him recipient of the Wellington Award for Outstanding Contributions inEngineering Economy . He has consulting and industrial experience, and is a registered professional engineer.In addition to teaching at Iowa State, Smith taught
engineering extension classes toBell Telephone Systems engineers for two decades. He taught classes off-campus inCedar Rapids , Waterloo andDubuque ,Iowa , and toBell Telephone Laboratories inMurray Hill andHolmdel, New Jersey ;Virgin Islands Telephone Company in St. Thomas, USVI; Otter Tail Power Company inFergus Falls, Minnesota , and AlbertaTelephone inEdmonton, Alberta, Canada .He grew up in
Sioux City, Iowa and playedtrumpet in his high school band atSioux City Central High School.He lives in
Ames, Iowa with his wife Phyllis and is the father ofPulitzer Prize -winnerBrian Smith (photographer) of Miami Beach, Florida.External links
* [http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Economy-Analysis-Capital-Expenditures/dp/0813805538 Engineering Economy: Analysis of Capital Expenditures]
* [http://www.imse.iastate.edu/fileadmin/www.imse.iastate.edu/pdf/Newsletter.pdf ISU Industrial Engineering Department Turns 50 - Alums Share Memmories (PDF)]
* [http://www.briansmithphoto.com Brian Smith]
* [http://www.cs.iastate.edu/jva/jva-articles.shtml John Vincent Atanasoff]
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