Second honorary doctorate from Brenau for Lessie Smithgall

GAINESVILLE - Brenau University made history Friday night. For the first time, the school presented someone with a second honorary doctorate. That person was Lessie Smithgall.

Brenau President Ed Schrader and chairman of the Board of Trustees Pete Miller presented an honorary Doctor of Sciences to Smithgall during a special dinner at the Chattahoochee Country Club following the autumn meeting of the university’s governing board.

“She lives life and has experienced life as opposed to looking on as a bystander,” Schrader said. “She’s able to pass that enthusiasm on to people.”

The degree commemorates the significant contributions that she and her family have made to global and local environmental preservation.

The honorary degree marks the second time Brenau has recognized the contributions of Mrs. Smithgall, who is a trustee emeritus. In 1984, the board conferred on her an honorary Doctorate of Human Letters because of her support of the arts.

Dr. Schrader said the second honorary doctorate was appropriate because of her focus in recent years on preservation of natural areas, resources and wildlife.

“She and her family have done more in the support of ecology, environmental studies and science than most people do in a lifetime,” he said.

The 98-year-old matriarch was surrounded by her friends and her family when Dr. Schrader brought her diploma to her.

“I’m absolutely overcome, I'm so surprised,” she said. “I thought one of my boys would be here, and all three of them are here.”

Also honored by Brenau Friday night was former headmaster of Brenau Academy Frank Booth, who served in that post 24 years before becoming Special Assistant to the President for two years.

"Booth made Brenau Academy what it is today," Schrader said. "It’s a great place for students to get out on individual paths to extraordinary lives."

The Brenau president said Booth's education career spanned four decades and that he was an "advocate of single gender education as an incubator for the human spirit."

"I thought the academy was something that could change young ladies’ lives,” Booth said.