Computer Faculty Member Dies
Designer of a Linux programming curriculum at Clark
Mark Smith, recently retired faculty in the CTEC department, died March 1 at Ray Hickey Hospice House.
Smith began work at Clark College as an adjunct instructor in Computer Technology department in January 2001. He was hired as a full-time instructor in 2002, became tenured in 2005 and taught programming and foundational computing courses until his retirement in 2012.
His major contributions to the college and community were the design of a Linux programming curriculum, as well as several CTEC courses, some of which have been delivered online. He was a contributing researcher in the redesign of the Clark CTEC department’s web design program and was among the first instructors in the United States to adopt the Python language for an introductory programming class.
Prior to Clark, Smith had a successful career in the high-tech industry in Northern California and traveled the world. He was fluent in Russian and had a strong interest in world religion.
Northwood Park Funeral home in Ridgefield is handling the arrangements.
