Dr. Gilbert (Gil) Howlett Smith passed away on Monday, July 6, 2020 after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.  He was 81 years old.  Gil was born in Cornwall, New York on July 25, 1938.

As a boy growing up in Monroe, New York Gil excelled in sports playing football, basketball and baseball.  At the age of 16 he was a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers rookie team playing second base and pitcher.  Despite his obvious talent for baseball, he decided to further his education at Hartwick College.  There he played baseball and goal keeper on the first ever soccer team in school history.  There he  received the Hartwick College Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2010.

After graduating from Hartwick in 1959 with a BA in biology, Gil attended Brown University and went on to earn a Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in biology in 1963 and 1965, respectively.  He joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a staff fellow in the Viral Biology Branch in 1965 and became senior investigator in the Laboratory of Biology in 1970. He most recently served as Senior Investigator in the Basic Research Laboratory and head of the Mammary Stem Cell Biology Section. In 2005, he received the National Institutes of Health Merit award.    Gil was also a two-time nominee for the E.B. Wilson Medal, the highest award from the American Society for Cell Biology.  Additionally, in 2008 he was a finalist for the Nobel Prize for medicine.  He retired June 30, 2020, and was recently named an NIH Scientist Emeritus.

Gil is considered a pioneer in the biology of mammary/breast cancer and stem cells involved in mammary development and cancer.  He presented at numerous invited lectures across the globe and authored 180 research publications while serving on several editorial boards and as the Scientific Advisor for the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation.  His conceptual contributions led the way in stem cell research and was considered by many of his peers to be a "scientist's scientist." In addition to his great passion for science, he also loved to teach. While at NCI, he devoted his time serving as a mentor to hundreds of junior scientists around the world. He received the NCI Mentor Merit Award in 2003 and the NCI Outstanding Mentor Award in 2019.

In addition to his brilliant scientific career, Gil was also a well-respected soccer coach and youth soccer advocate in Northern Virginia.  He was one of several authors of the original McLean Youth Soccer by-laws.  While coaching all of his children between the years of 1975-1990, he helped develop a large number of Division 1 collegiate soccer players and several national team level athletes.  Gil was also a staff coach for the Virginia Olympic Development Program at the district and state levels from 1983-1990.

Gil is survived by his five children, Gilbert Patrick Smith, Garett Michael Smith, Grant William Smith, Gayle Smith Wilson and Gwynne Ellen Bell.  In addition to his 5 children, he is also survived by a brother, Lyndon Smith, and sister, Sally Dodge, and eight grandchildren.

The family will be holding a small Celebration of Life with close friends and family later this month.