Lacey Smith, the prominent professor of history emeritus at Northwestern, died Sept. 8, 2013, at age 90.
The son of Baldwin Smith, chair of Princeton’s art and archaeology department from 1945 to 1956, he graduated from Bowdoin in 1946 after serving in the Army Air Corps. Smith earned a master’s degree from Princeton in 1949, was a Fulbright scholar at the University of London (1949–50), and completed his Princeton Ph.D. in history in 1951. After two years teaching at Princeton, he became an assistant professor at MIT (1953-55), and then became an associate professor at Northwestern in 1955.
Smith rose to full professor in 1962, and became the Peter B. Ritzma Professor in the Humanities in 1985. Retiring in 1993, he continued as a guest professor. Of his numerous books on Tudor England, many remain in print.
“Lacey was a brilliant historian, a captivating teacher, an articulate and gentle colleague, and a calm and wise citizen of the university,” said Professor Peter Hayes, chair of Northwestern’s history department. Smith was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Bowdoin.
He was predeceased by Jean, his wife of 43 years, and is survived by three children and three grandchildren.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.