Edward Holman Smith, M.S. '40, Ph.D. '48, professor emeritus of entomology, died at his home in Asheville, N.C., June 23 at the age of 96.

Smith joined the faculty in 1967 to become director of Cornell Cooperative Extension, shepherding the agency through the financial trials following New York City's declaration of bankruptcy during the 1970s. When he retired in 1998, he was chair of the Department of Entomology.

Born Sept. 2, 1915, in Abbeville, S.C., he earned a B.S. at the Clemson Agricultural College in 1938 and later a master's and Ph.D. in entomology from Cornell. During World War II he served as an officer in the European Theater and retired from the U.S. Army Reserve as a colonel.

Prior to working at Cornell, Smith first served as an agricultural extension agent working with fruit growers in New York's Finger Lakes region. In 1964 he was named chair of the entomology department at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. A tireless advocate for the environment, he testified against the excessive use of DDT at U.S. Senate hearings in the 1960s. His knowledge and expertise took him to Afghanistan, China, Kenya, Thailand, Peru and Malawi, where he worked to improve the quality and quantity of food production in those countries.

After retiring, Smith and his wife, Janet Ritchie Smith, moved to Asheville and continued their work on the biography of entomological pioneer Charles Valentine Riley. Smith served on the Board of Visitors of Warren Wilson College and continued to write for the Entomological Society of America. He was also a financial supporter of Cornell.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren and many extended family members.

A memorial service will be scheduled for later this summer. Donations in his memory can be made to the Evelyn Claassen Fund (Mann Library, 237 Mann Drive, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853), which supports Cornell's entomology collection; the Cornell Plantations; or the North Carolina Arboretum.