Garnett Smith Wins Tech's Highest Honor

Former Advance Auto CEO Garnett E. Smith (right) of Moneta is the recipient of the 2010 William H. Ruffner Medal, Virginia Tech’s highest honor, in recognition of his support of the university.

Smith went up the corporate ladder from assistant store manager in 1962 to president and COO in 1985, and in 1997 became CEO. Advance Auto Parts is the Roanoke Valley’s only Fortune 500 Company. He retired in 2000 as vice chairman of the board.

Smith is a Pulaski native. In 2001, he was named one of Roanoke’s 50 Most Influential People. He has served on the W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center Board of Directors as an officer for 35 years, is a former board member of United Way of Roanoke, and he has held every office, including president, in the Pulaski Jaycees.

Smith has been involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the Taubman Museum of Art, Goodwill Industries, Virginia Tech, and the American Cancer Society. He was the 1998 Outstanding Philanthropist of the Roanoke Valley,

At Virginia Tech, he served on the Virginia Tech Foundation Board and as a volunteer in various roles for The Campaign for Virginia Tech: Invent the Future. He contributed to the W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center, athletics, University Libraries, the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center, the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, the Holtzman Alumni Center, and the Skelton Conference Center.

He has targeted endowed scholarships, benefitted capital projects, and provided unrestricted support. He is a Golden Hokie, a Legacy Society member, and a President’s Circle member of the Ut Prosim Society, the university’s most prestigious donor recognition society.