Today marks the last day of Chuck Smith’s 30-year career at Ohio State. Today the director of Roads and Grounds in the department of Physical Facilities will retire.

Smith started at OSU Physical Facilities in 1972 as a laborer and then worked his way all the way up from laborer to director of his division. Smith said it is his proudest achievement.

“That’s a long way to come,” he said.

During his tenure at OSU, Smith saw the campus shift from its rural background to a more urban feel with less green space.

“When I started, there were still barns on the corner of Fyffe and Woody Hayes,” Smith said.

Originally from Springfield, Ill., he earned his associate’s degree in law enforcement from Columbus State Community College, and has nearly completed another degree in construction management from Columbus State. Smith is taking classes at the Columbus Museum of Art, and will soon become an instructor there after he retires from OSU.

“He went from the bottom of his organization to the top,” said Jim Stevens, associate vice president for Physical Facilities. “He was very, very effective at keeping the campus looking good with a very small budget.”

Smith said he is proud he was able to deliver good service to the OSU campus and build up his division at the same time despite budget constraints.

Stevens said he attributes that success to Smith’s ability to motivate his staff. The work at Roads and Grounds is often tedious, but Smith was able to keep his staff motivated, Stevens said.

“The campus always looked better than it was budgeted to,” Stevens said.

When road access was jeopardized because of the weather, Smith and his crew worked through the night to make sure the roads remained open, he said.

“His people would always be out there, and he’d be leading them,” Stevens said.

Su Au Arnold, a colleague of Smith’s at OSU, said he is impressed by the amount of inter-departmental cooperation at Roads and Grounds under Smith’s direction.

“Their people do their darnedest to make the area look the best they can,” said Au Arnold, the assistant director for facility management at the Wexner Center. “Something that Chuck has instilled in his people is you treat your areas as if they were your own backyard,” Au Arnold said.

Smith worked to add a lot of extra touches to the campus, such as better bike racks for students, Stevens said.

“It’s hard to describe everything he did in 30 years,” Stevens said. “He started at the bottom but, by the end, he really made a big difference.”

Au Arnold said the positive difference in Smith’s work was his reliability.

“He never says no. He has come through for us many times,” Au Arnold said. “He is always willing to try.”

Kevin Wagner, assistant director of Roads and Grounds, will take over as acting director while a search for a replacement for Smith is conducted.