Willard Smith, D.C., didn’t originally
intend to become a chiropractor;
58 years ago he earned a degree in
Animal Husbandry. It was a Palmer
chiropractor that turned him on to
chiropractic almost 10 years later.
“Palmer College was a lifesaver for
me. I was a life timer when it came
to headaches,” said Dr. Smith, “and
a Palmer graduate turned off the
pain! Eventually my wife got me to
Palmer School. [After graduating in
1960,] I was on the Palmer faculty
for 40 years.”
At 81, Dr. Smith has been in practice
for 43 years in Rock Island, Ill.,
and has become a world traveler in
service to others. Since 2000, he
has been on seven of Palmer’s Clinic
Abroad Program trips, and has also performed mission work in
Australia, Ethiopia, Jamaica and Rio.
Dr. Smith also has shown great devotion to his alma mater. A
President’s Club member for 15 years, he was a generous donor to
the Building the Future Fountainhead Capital Campaign and the
campaign to construct the Campus Center. In 1998, he created a
scholarship in his wife Marguerite’s memory.
In 1985, Dr. Smith’s generous support was recognized when Palmer
College named him Chiropractor of the Year. Ten years later he was
inducted into the Palmer Academy of Fellows. He has also been
named Palmer’s first Professor Emeritus—a very special honor for
a very special doctor.