Former New Martinsville resident Keith Smith, now living in Charleston, W.Va., has been inducted into the Glenville State College Curtis Elam Athletic Hall of Fame.

Smith was a four-year letterman in football and led his team in scoring in 1961 with 29 points. He was the 16th ranked small college punter in the nation and was Second Team WVIAC All-Conference as a defensive end and was First Team in 1962. Other honors Smith earned included being named to the Second Team Little All American Academic Football Team in 1961.

Smith was a Student Assistant Coach in 1963 and was Vice President at GSC while playing tennis as a student. For a time, Smith taught at Wheeling Central and coached football, wrestling, and tennis, where his tennis team won the State Catholic Championship.

He also played two seasons of semi-professional football for the Wheeling Ironman, then went back to school and received his Master’s Degree in Counseling at the University of Toledo. He was named to the WVIAC 50th Anniversary All Conference Team.

He coached the Kanawha County competitive soccer club for 10 years and, in 1988, was named West Virginia Boys’ Soccer Coach of the Year.

Smith earned his Ph.D. from Ohio State University and worked at the West Virginia State Department of Education in various capacities, including being director of the Division of Special Education and Student Support Services. He later became the assistant state superintendent for instruction.

After his work in the department of education, Smith was involved in writing two National Science Foundation Grants for improving mathematics and science education in the rural Appalachia Education Region.

He has worked with the Appalachia Rural Systemic initiative which covers the six states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, southeast Ohio, and western North Carolina. Since 2001, Smith has worked with the Appalachian Coal Field Rural Systemic Initiative in southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia.

He is married his college sweetheart, Mary Jo Nocida Smith, who was homecoming queen and also a cheerleader. They are the parents of two adult children, Julie Potter of Reisterstown, Md., and Michael Smith of Knoxville, Tenn. They also have one grandson, Brett Potter,

He is one of five members of the class of 2011 who were honored during the induction ceremony and banquet held on May 21 in the GSC Mollohan Campus Community Center Ballroom.

Other members of the 2011 GSC Hall of Fame Class include the late Magnolia High School graduate Chup Robinson.

Plaques of each member of the hall of fame are displayed in the lobby of the GSC Physical Education Building. The Curtis Elam Hall of Fame was established in May 2001 through the generosity of Curtis Elam, a 1949 graduate of GSC.