Norman O. Smith

Norman O. Smith, 96, an emeritus professor of chemistry at Fordham University, in the Bronx, N.Y., died on May 29 in Arlington Heights, Ill.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Smith earned both his B.S. and M.S. degrees at the University of Manitoba. After receiving a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from New York University in 1939, he returned to Winnipeg, where he taught at the University of Manitoba until 1950. He then joined the faculty at Fordham, remaining there until he retired in 1984.

Smith is the author of numerous articles as well as two texts in thermodynamics and a coauthor of the book “The Phase Rule and Its Applications.” He was an emeritus member of ACS, joining in 1948.

Smith was a member of the Royal Canadian College of Organists and the composer of several anthems. He was the organist of St. John’s Anglican Cathedral, in Winnipeg, in the 1940s and served as organist and choirmaster of Union Church of Pocantico Hills, in Westchester County, N.Y., for 29 years.

Smith was predeceased by his wife, Anna Marie, whom he married in 1944. He is survived by three sons, Richard, Graham, and Stephen; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.