In Memoriam: Michael A. Smyer

Dr. Smyer于1994年8月到任时，正处于哈佛大学学术和行政历史的关键时刻, 因为BC的护理和教育太阳城官网生项目从GA转移过来了&S to the schools of Nursing and Education. 除了开创AVP的太阳城官网地位, 开学两个月后，他被任命为大学学术规划委员会(UAPC)的联席主席。, 这是一项重大的长期倡议，旨在将太阳城网赌平台的学术生活塑造成21世纪.

In a January 1995 interview with the Boston College Chronicle, Dr. Smyer对多重领导角色带来的挑战持乐观态度, 他指出，在来不列颠哥伦比亚省之前，他曾在宾夕法尼亚州立大学健康与人类发展学院担任类似职位.

“我认为这个问题是教学和太阳城官网的问题，而不是教学和太阳城官网的问题. I truly think each complements the other. 如果教师们对他们所做的事情感到兴奋, they bring it to all areas of their profession.”

他还指出，太阳城官网是太阳城官网生教育产生学术以外影响的巨大机会. “许多工业领域正在削减以前用于太阳城官网的资源. To fill their needs, 他们将在大学里寻找拥有高级学位的太阳城官网生, or for partnerships. 不列颠哥伦比亚省应该参与我们可以发挥作用的领域，这与我们的使命有关.”

Ten-and-a-half years later, when Dr. Smyer stepped down as AVP—retaining his role as GA&该大学的校长将外部资金增加了一倍，达到4000万美元, 他说这大大增加了校园里的太阳城官网活动. But a raft of complex issues facing academic research, 比如知识产权和人类受试者的使用, 是什么让不列颠哥伦比亚省有必要考虑聘请一名全职太阳城官网人员, he explained.

当时的学术副校长兼院长约翰·诺伊豪泽(John Neuhauser)赞扬了布朗博士. Smyer’s performance as AVP, reported Chronicle. “他做得非常出色，单凭数据就能证明这一点. 但米克在为不列颠哥伦比亚省的太阳城官网创造氛围方面无疑发挥了重要作用. 大学的成功归功于他的鼓励.”

Dr. Smyer对UAPC的参与以及对BC长期学术使命为期18个月的太阳城官网, meanwhile, produced the 1996 report, “Advancing the Legacy: The New Millennium.” The document outlined five goals: strengthening support for professional and graduate education; affirming research as central to the University’s mission; emphasizing BC’s Jesuit liberal arts education tradition; stressing rigorous intellectual development and personal formation as characteristic of BC’s undergraduate education; and proposing diversity, technology, 国际化是不列颠哥伦比亚省环境的鲜明特征.

For all his administrative work, Dr. 从老年心理健康成为一个有组织的领域开始，Smyer就一直活跃在老年心理健康领域，是一名屡获殊荣的心理学家. 他的基础贡献之一是在2005年共同建立了不列颠哥伦比亚省老龄化与工作中心，以促进机会, choice, and quality of paid and unpaid work across the lifespan, with a focus on older adults. 它最早的一个项目是太阳城官网美国的工作场所如何发展以适应其老龄化的劳动力——这是一个由婴儿潮一代的老龄化提出的重要问题.

“有一件事会影响年长员工对工作的决定，但却经常被忽视，那就是工作的可用性, or lack of availability, of flexible work options,” he told Chronicle. “我们的工作将侧重于太阳城官网工作灵活性，因为这是创新雇主应对劳动力老龄化的一个特别重要的因素。.”

Since its founding, the center has produced hundreds of fact sheets, case studies, comparative policy summaries, policy briefs, and research reports; embarked on studies about the health, mental health, and quality of life of the aging workforce in the United States and around the world; and produced translational research products to aid efforts to adapt to shifting workforce age demographics.

After leaving BC, Dr. Smyer was provost of Bucknell University from 2008 to 2015, 2020年从心理学教授的学术生涯中退休. A native of New Orleans, 他获得耶鲁大学心理学学士学位和杜克大学临床心理学博士学位. 他于1977年加入宾夕法尼亚州立大学，担任助理教授，并于1998年至1992年担任宾夕法尼亚州立大学健康与人类发展学院负责太阳城官网和太阳城官网生学习的副院长.

Dr. Smyer’s book, Aging and Mental Health, co-authored with Daniel Segal and Sara Qualls, 被视为老年学领域的重要资源. He was recognized with the M. Powell Lawton Award for Distinguished Contribution in Clinical Geropsychology from the Society for Clinical Geropsychology; and an American Psychological Association Citizen Psychologist Presidential Citation. 他获得了赴日本和印度的富布赖特奖学金，并被任命为斯坦福大学哈索普拉特纳设计学院的公民创新太阳城官网员.

He is survived by his wife, Pat Piper-Smyer; his children, Brendan Piper-Smyer and Kyle Piper-Smyer; and four grandchildren, three nephews, four nieces, four grand-nephews, and a grand-niece.