In 1970, Smith moved to
Frankfort, Kentucky, with her husband
LeRoy Smith, who was hired as a football coach at
Kentucky State University (KSU), a
public historically black university. She was hired to work with KSU faculty to implement
classroom integration, and became an assistant professor of education in 1974. She became the acting chair of the Division of Education, Human Resources and Technology at KSU in 1981, and was appointed as dean of the College of Applied Sciences at KSU in 1983. She remained in the position until July 1988, when she became KSU's vice president for academic affairs. A controversy emerged in October 1988 after Philip Chandler II, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, criticized Smith for a memo in which she rejected his chosen candidate for a department chair vacancy and recommended giving preference to "a minority with a Ph.D. in English". Chandler, who called the memo racist, was suspended and barred from campus by university president
Raymond Burse, pending an investigation by the university's board of regents. The board voted to reinstate Chandler while unanimously expressing support for Smith and noting that the memo was consistent with the university's
affirmative action policies; Chandler later resigned in protest of Burse's actions in December 1988. The board of regents announced in March 1989, that Smith would become the interim president of KSU upon Burse's scheduled resignation the following month. Smith, whose position as vice president for academic affairs put her in line for the position as interim president, said she was surprised by the announcement. She was confirmed as interim president on April 19, 1989. Smith began her term by attempting to address grievances from university employees who had been unhappy with Burse's management; she was later credited with boosting morale among faculty members. In January 1990, Smith was named as one of seven semifinalists, and the only female semifinalist, for the permanent position. She was not among the three finalists selected by the board, who ultimately selected
John T. Wolfe Jr., then–provost and vice president for academic affairs at
Bowie State University. Her interim presidency ended when Wolfe's term began on July 1, 1990, and the board of regents appointed her as a special assistant to Wolfe later that month. Wolfe's presidency was tumultuous, and on October 7, 1991, the board charged him with financial misconduct and transferred the ability to approve the university's expenditures to Smith. Upon Wolfe's sudden resignation on October 18, Smith assumed the duties of the presidency, and was considered a top contender for the permanent post. On October 30, the board officially named her as president of KSU in a 6–3 vote, with the dissenters not being personally opposed to Smith but rather expressing desire for a nationwide search. As president, she served on the newly established statewide Task Force on Higher Education, which examined reform of Kentucky's universities, and she chaired the Commission on Higher Education Institutional Efficiency and Cooperation, which advised Governor
Paul E. Patton on the potential for interactive distance learning via television or the Internet. In April 1997, Smith announced her plans to retire the following year, when her contract was set to expire in June 1998. She was succeeded as president by
George Reid, then–senior vice president at
Benedict College in
Columbia, South Carolina. ==Awards==