Aerospace dean awarded meritorious service medal North Dakota Adjutant General Michael Haugen and Gov. John Hoeven recently awarded Bruce Smith, dean of the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, the North Dakota National Guard State Meritorious Service Medal for his outstanding services as a member of Hoeven’s Task Force MIND (Military Issues in North Dakota). “This award came as a complete surprise to me,” said Smith. “I was stunned when Gen. Haugen called me up (at the graduation ceremony earlier this month for the Army pilots graduating from the UND helicopter training program).” Hoeven’s Task Force MIND is designed to examine current military force structure and missions in the state and to identify, recommend, and promote enhanced military opportunities and partnerships between military and civilian entities. Task force members represent current and retired senior military officers, and business, community, and higher education leaders. Smith, who graduated from UND in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and education, has been instrumental in expanding UND’s already globally renowned aviation and related programs into a training and research powerhouse and one of the two largest colleges on the UND campus. Smith is a widely recognized authority in the aviation training field and spent eight years as a flight instructor with the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and in the USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training at Williams Air Force Base, Ariz. Smith came to UND from Delta Airlines, where he was director of training, responsible, among other things, for ground training of Delta’s pilots and initial recruitment and training of flight attendants. As a member of Gov. Hoeven’s Task Force MIND, Smith put forth proposals for a Joint National Training Center in the state and the North Dakota Air Space Initiative, “ideas sent forward to place North Dakota in the forefront of national defense planning,” Haugen said. While an undergrad at UND, Smith also was named an NCAA football All American. He holds a Ph.D. in instructional design and development from Florida State University and a master of arts in educational technology from Arizona State University. -- Jan Orvik, Writer/Editor, University Relations, janorvik@mail.und.nodak.edu, 777-3621