BOB SMYLIE (Jun 1947)

Robert Smylie (June 1947) was named Director Emeritus of the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations on September 14^th ,2012.

A graduate of Washington University and Princeton University, Bob was ordained as a minister in 1954. He studied diplomatic history at Columbia University in New York and has devoted his entire career to the intersection between religion and international affairs.

Smylie participated in the U. S. State Department’s Scholar-Diplomat program and was a guest of NATO in their seminar program for religious specialists. He served as a U. S. Navy chaplain and taught at the University of Florida. Bob was also a visiting professor at the Ecumenical Institute of the World Council of Churches at Bossey outside Geneva, Switzerland.

He was a vice-president of the World Conference of Religion and Peace and served on the Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the executive committee of the United Nations non-governmental organization Committee on Disarmament, and served on the editorial board of its’ publication. “Disarmament Times”. He also served on  the national advisory committee of the U. S. Committee for UNICEF, the United Nations Association and the American Bible Society.

Bob’s office at the U. N. was responsible for presenting his church’s reaction and response to global affairs, for maintaining a conduit for communication between the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church and the U. N., for providing educational seminars for college students to teach the various and diverse functions of the U. N. and it’s related organizations and to act as an advocate for human rights, disarmament and global security.

Robert Smylie is another Roosevelt graduate who has devoted his life to making the world a better place for mankind.

DOB: Aug 27, 1929 Memphis, TN DOD: Dec 19, 2015 Tinton Falls, NJ Age 87