The ARCS Light Award is a distinctive honor awarded to a member who has given the highest quality of long-term service to ARCS Foundation and its mission of advancing science in America. Each year, the Oregon Chapter selects one ARCS Light recipient.  

Susan Smith, the 2023-2024 ARCS Light, has served in numerous significant roles for our Chapter and ARCS National. Adding to her gravitas as a STEM advocate, Smith is a scientist herself. She served as the founding Director of the Center for Women’s Health at OHSU, and she continues to serve on the Leadership Council and participates in the Scientific Review Committee. Smith was the director of the Oregon Primate Center for 13 years and chairs the Medical Research Foundation of the Oregon Research and Education Committee. OHSU has featured her in a “Women Who Inspire Us” article. 

Smith, with a PhD in Physiology, has inspired ARCS leaders, donors, and university personnel with her volunteer time, knowledge of graduate school life, and belief in pushing scientific advancement forward. She earned her PhD from the University of Georgia and was a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University with a research focus on brain regulation of food intake and energy balance and reproductive function.  

“Being a member of ARCS has allowed me to pay back to graduate students in biomedical research. I owe so much to the many graduate students I trained in neuroscience. They were the best and were so critical to the research contributions made by my laboratory,” Smith says. “I know so well how important it is to have extra financial support for their graduate careers.” 

Smith has over 160 publications in national and international journals, and has taken leadership roles in various professional organizations, including serving on the OHSU Board of Trustees.  

A longtime ARCS member, Smith has served in various Oregon chapter roles, including as VP of Philanthropy and VP of University Relations, and has attended numerous events with scholars over the years. Smith has served, and will continue to serve, on the ARCS National Board, currently as Chair of the Council of Advisors. As a significant ARCS donor, Smith says, “It is with great pleasure that I have been able to support a number of ARCS Scholars and be a part of their graduate training, albeit in a different way.” 

To rephrase and endorse the headline from OHSU’s article about Smith – “You inspire us.”  

View previous Oregon ARCS Light honorees HERE.