Dr Gail T. Smith-Keizer

Dr. Gail T. Smith Keizer was born in Orange, N.J., in 1938; during her youth, she lived with her parents, Edward and Loreta Smith, and her sister Sylvia. Gail received her B.A. from Montclair State University and an M.A. from Columbia University in Latin and Greek. She earned her Ph.D. from New York University in Classics. Her doctoral thesis was entitled "The Importance of Miracle to the Religious Faith of Plutarch of Chaeronea." Gail was a professor of Classics at Brooklyn College, City University of New York. She served as acting chair of the Classics Department in the spring of 2010, and from 1995-2013 served as acting assistant provost at the CUNY Graduate Center. She was part of the teaching staff for the nationally renowned Summer Latin Institute, which immersed students in studying ancient Latin and Greek. Gail endeavored to demonstrate the intersectionality between people of color and the classics through papers such as "The Ethiopians and Greek Epic: Memnon at Troy and "Phillis Wheatley and the Classical Tradition," both sponsored by the Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean. CUNY Graduate Center, New York. Gail's contribution to learning and student/faculty opportunity programs includes grants from many institutions, such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, and the U.S. Department of Education. Gail was a National Science Foundation Advisory Committee member for the National AGEP Program in the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences. She was the program coordinator for the NSF/Bridges to the Doctorate Program under the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program. Bridges to the Doctorate increases the number of members from underrepresented student groups in science master's programs who enter doctoral programs and gain a doctorate in preparation for a career in biomedical research. Gail was appointed founding director of the Irene Diamond Fund, "CUNY Pipeline Program for Careers in College Teaching and Research," a CUNY-wide undergraduate program designed to increase the number of members from underrepresented groups who pursue doctoral studies in preparation for a career in the academy From 1995 to 2007 she served as director for the Office of Educational Opportunity and Diversity Programs (OEODP) at the Graduate Center, receiving more than $11 million in external institutional grants to support initiatives to broaden the participation of doctoral underrepresented minorities in STEM and SBES fields. Gail's proposal for minority recruitment and retention won the Graduate Center's CGS/Peterson's Award, a version of which constituted the paper, "A Structural Methodology: Minority Recruitment and Retention at the Doctoral Level." CGS Communicator XXIX.3, March, with Pamela Trotman Reid. Gail was a member of the American Philological Association. She was appointed to the board of editors for The Classical Outlook in 1974 and served as acting editor in 1977. In 1993, she published a commentary on Plautus' Captivi as part of the Bryn Mawr Latin Commentaries series. Gail loved Brooklyn College and its students. She participated in many collegewide committees, such as the Planning Committee, the 2015 CUNY Faculty Diversity and Inclusion Conference, sponsored by CUNY, the Graduate School Steering Committee, and the Subcommittee on Outcomes Assessment for the Middle States Periodic Review. In her spare time, Gail enjoyed watching westerns and murder mysteries, especially her beloved Poirot. Similarly, she loved courtroom programs, particularly Judge Judy. Gail was a participant in the TV gameshow, the Match Game. She enjoyed music, dancing, the card game, Pinocle, the theater, and fine dining. Gail was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Surviving Gail is her niece and nephew, Dr. Juana Smith Reina of Mahopac, New York, and Randolph Edward Reina of Plainfield, New Jersey; great nieces and nephews: Melissa Reina Morrison, Trenton, New Jersey; Michael Troy Morrison and his partner Mellanee Welty of Gainesville, Florida; Randolph Edward Reina Jr., and his partner Alicja Panienkowska of Piscataway, New Jersey, and Asia Reina Cook, her spouse Hamilton Cook and their son Jordan Cook of Rancocas, Westampton Township, New Jersey Funeral Services will be held on Saturday at 10:00 am at the Perinchief Chapels, 438 High St., Mount Holly. Relatives and Friends may attend her viewing on Saturday from 9:00am – 10am at the Funeral Home. Burial will follow in Lakeview Memorial Park in Cinnaminson.

Dr Gail T. Smith-Keizer

July 2, 1938 - July 16, 2023