Michael O. Smith ’64, M.D.

Michael O. Smith, M.D., a psychiatrist, acupuncturist, addiction specialist and public health planner who was the director of New York City’s Lincoln Hospital Recovery Center from 1974 to 2011 when he retired, died Dec. 24, 2017, at age 75. He was a member of the John Wesley Club. After receiving his degree magna cum laude and with high honors from the College of Letters, he received his medical degree from the University of California Medical School in San Francisco. An associate professor of psychiatry at Cornell Medical School, now Weill Cornell Medicine, he was certified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine. He was internationally known for developing the use of acupuncture in the field of chemical dependency. More than 2,000 treatment programs worldwide use the Lincoln Hospital model. As chairperson of the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association, he provided consultation to city, county, state, federal, and United Nations agencies in more than 100 settings. He was the first person selected for the National Drug Court Hall of Fame. Among those who survive are two daughters, including Joanna S. Smith ’00.