James Smith inducted into business hall of fame

Thomson Reuters CEO James Smith was honoured by his university in recognition of his career success.

He was inducted into Marshall University College of Business Hall of Fame on campus at Huntington, West Virginia.

Smith, seen here at Marshall with his wife Pam, was only one of four inductees to attend the ceremony. One died in 2012 and health issues prevented the other two from attending.

"We're recognizing the success they've had in their careers," said Norman Mosrie, president of the College of Business Advisory Board. "The way I see it is that they are setting the inspiration for the future, for tomorrow.”

Smith said he was honoured and humbled to be inducted into the hall. "It's an important way of keeping the university and the business community connected. I would hope as well that events like this would keep more business leaders involved in the school with more practical observations and more of the lessons from the school of hard knocks back into the classroom."

Smith graduated from Marshall in 1981 after being recruited to the school via a football scholarship. He began his career as a journalist and was managing editor of the Charleston Daily Mail when it was acquired by Thomson Newspapers in 1987. He rose through the ranks at Thomson Newspapers to become responsible for operations in North America and was named chief executive of Thomson Reuters in 2012. ■