Orin R. Smith, 81, of Vero Beach, passed away on Aug. 16, 2016.
He is survived by his wife, Dr. Stephanie M. Bennett-Smith, who is president-emerita of Centenary College in Hackettstown, N.J.; two daughters, Lindsay Smith Fox and Robin Smith; a stepson, Brendan Bennett and his wife Leonie Parnell Bennett; and four grandchildren: Caitlin and Owen Bennett and Sidney and Adelaide Fox.
Smith was retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Engelhard Corporation.
Son of Sidney Smith and Gladys deGroff Smith, he was born in Newark, N.J., on Aug. 13, 1935. He graduated from Brown University, Providence, R.I., in 1957 with honors and received a Master of Business Administration degree from Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J., where he was graduated valedictorian of the class of 1964.
Smith received an honorary doctorate in economics from Centenary College in 1991. In May, 1994 he was conferred with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Monmouth University.
Smith served as an officer in the United States Navy. Subsequently, he joined Allied Chemical Corporation in 1959 where he worked for 10 years in various management roles. He moved to J.T. Baker, a division of Richardson-Merrell, Phillipsburg, N.J., in 1969 as marketing manager. In 1972, he joined M&T Chemicals, a subsidiary of American Can Company, Greenwich, Conn., as director of sales and marketing, becoming general manager of New Business in 1974. He served as president from 1975 to 1977.
He moved to the Engelhard Corporation in 1977 as senior vice president, Research and New Business Development, in the former Minerals & Chemicals Division. Smith held several key corporate and divisional management posts, including executive vice president of Engelhard Corporation and president of the Minerals & Chemicals Division. He served as president and chief executive officer of the corporation from 1984 through 1994, when he was elected Chairman and Chief Executive Officer where he served until his retirement on Dec. 31, 2000.
Smith was a former director of Ingersoll-Rand Company, Vulcan Materials Company, Applied Bio-Systems, Celera Corporation, Minorco, The Louisiana Land and Exploration Company, Chemical Manufacturers’ Association, and past director-at-large of the University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation.
In addition, Smith was a past director of the New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co., the New Jersey Reinsurance Co., the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, past Trustee of Plimoth Plantation, Newark Museum, Welkind Rehabilitation Hospital, the Henry H. Kessler Foundation, Inc., and a past member of the Board of Overseers of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Boards of Trustees of the Manufacturers’ Alliance (MAPI) and the Institute for Technological Advancement.
He was also a past chairman of the Board of Trustees, Independent College Fund of New Jersey, an organization representing 15 independent New Jersey colleges and former Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Centenary College. The Smith Building at Centenary University is named in his honor.
Smith was a recipient of the 1998 Ellis Island Medal of Honor in May, 1998. In September 1993, he was honored with the Distinguished Citizens Award by the Watchung Area Council of Boy Scouts of America. He received Monmouth University’s 1986 Distinguished Business Leader’s Award that recognizes distinguished contributions to the state and nation by a business or corporate leader. In 1985, he was named Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by the alumni of Seton Hall University’s School of Business.
He recently served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Naval War College Foundation in Newport, R.I., and was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Duxbury Bay Maritime School, Duxbury, Mass.
Smith was an avid sailor. He was also a serious collector of vintage automobiles, for which he received many awards.
A private burial service was held at Mayflower Cemetery, Duxbury, Mass., on Aug. 20, 2016, by Reverend Grant W. Barber of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Scituate, Mass.
Donations in Mr. Smith’s memory may be made to the Duxbury Bay Maritime School in Duxbury, Mass., to the Naval War College Foundation in Newport, R.I., or to the student scholarship fund at Centenary University, Hackettstown, N.J.
For online guestbook please visit macdonaldfuneralhome.com.
