Guffrie M. Smith, Jr.
Noted local educator and community activist, he served at the highest levels of Maryland State education.
(1942 –)
Guffrie Smith was born in 1942 in Scotland, St. Mary’s County, Maryland, the eldest of seventeen children. He maintains that holding this position earned him a lot of responsibility and expectations. While neither of his parents had the opportunity to graduate from high school, they stressed getting a good education for their children. Mr. Smith graduated from the St. Mary’s County Public Schools and earned his B.S. and M.A. degrees from Bowie State University. He participated in post graduate studies at the University of Maryland and Nova University.
Guffrie had a diverse career in education including 33 years with Calvert County Public Schools (1964 – 1975 and 1981-2004) and 6 years with the Maryland State Department of Education (1975-1981). He served as a teacher, vice principal, principal, supervisor, coordinator of Healthy Families, director of curriculum/instruction and coordinator of a resource center. With the State Department of Education, he served as specialist in migrant education, specialist in Title I and Migrant Branch Chief. In 2018 he was unanimously elected president of the Maryland State Board of Education.
Throughout his career, Guffrie served on regional and statewide boards and committees including the Maryland State Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board, social studies curriculum writing and assessment teams and the Multicultural Education Task Force.
Mr. Smith is an activist in the community involved with the Calvert Crusade for Children, Calvert Alliance Against Substance Abuse, Christmas in April, Kiwanis Club of Calvert, Calvert County Historical Society and Old Walville School Restoration Committee in 2003. He is the recipient of the Maryland State Teachers Association Martin Luther King Community Award.
Famed basketball coach Tubby Smith is his brother.
Additional Resources
Inspiring African American Men of Calvert County. Calvert Library, 2018. Book
The Maryland State Department of Education, Guffrie M. Smith, Jr. (marylandpublicschools.org)
