Jeanne Hoffman Smith

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

A native Oklahoman, Jeanne Hoffman Smith grew up in Chandler and Oklahoma City and graduated from Classen High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Oklahoma City University and graduate degree in social work from the University of Louisville in Kentucky and the Colorado Center for Psychoanalytical Studies. She holds an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Oklahoma City University.

Mrs. Smith’s personal giving has shaped the endowments of a number of Oklahoma City institutions, including those for film programs at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, the University of Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma Arts Institute. She also established an endowment to found the Center for Interpersonal Studies through Film and Literature at Oklahoma City University.

Mrs. Smith is an active board member with the Chamber Music Association, the Presbyterian Health Foundation grants committee, the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma County, and the Oklahoma Eye Foundation. She is a board member emeritus for the Oklahoma Arts Institute. Smith also sits on the advisory boards and committees of the Oklahoma Film & Music Commission, World Literature Today, and Sunbridge Low Cost Counseling Service.

In 2002, Mrs. Smith worked with the University of Oklahoma’s College of Arts and Sciences to establish the Thatcher Hoffman Smith Prize. Awarded biennially, the $40,000 prize recognizes the creative process, or “Creativity in Motion.” The prize recognizes creativity in any field, including but not limited to education, the arts, and science. In addition, Smith started the Lincoln County Children’s Historical Resource Center and established a committee to create innovative programs for children.

Mrs. Smith has three children, Harrison, Roy, and Victoria, and five grandchildren. She lives in Oklahoma City.