On June 3, 2000, the MPS gave its first Lifetime of Service Award to Lex B. Smith, MD.

Dr. Smith, originally from Texas, has been an MPS member since 1958. He has chaired the Ethics and Legislative Committees and has been a member of the Fellowship and the Nominations and Elections Committees. For five years, he chaired the Maryland Psychiatric Political Action Committee. He was MPS President in 1977-‘78. Dr. Smith continues to serve on two MPS committees.

Lex B. Smith, M.D.

Dr. Smith has also contributed greatly to related organizations and facilities. For example, his first MPS duty was to represent the Society at MedChi. He has also served on MedChi committees concerning fees and insurance coverage and physician-patient relations. He has been supervising Johns Hopkins residents since 1956. He has been a member of the Baltimore-Washington Society for Psychoanalysis since 1969 (the year that he graduated from the Institute) and of the Maryland Association of Private Practicing Psychiatrists since 1958.

Dr. Smith began his career as an internist in Texas. He moved to Baltimore in 1954 and trained in Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Smith began a private practice in 1958, which he maintained until he 'retired' in 1996. He continues to have an active role with numerous organizations. Dr. Smith and his wife of fifty-three years have three children and six grandchildren. He served in the Navy on active duty during both World War II and the Korean War.

The many MPS members who have served with Dr. Smith have come to value his wisdom, his sense of humor, and his determination to improve the practice of psychiatry, the lives of our patients, and the mental health of the community. This award is only a symbol of the high esteem and affection that his colleagues feel for him.