Texarkana College President Dr. Jason Smith Honored During Award Presentation and Reception
/Texarkana College recently honored TC President Dr. Jason Smith for receiving the prestigious W.W. Scagel Award presented by the American Bladesmith Society (ABS) at the 2022 International Blade Show held in Atlanta, Georgia. The award is presented annually by the ABS Board of Directors for meritorious service to the craft of bladesmithing in education. A local award presentation and reception was held on Thursday, June 9, in TC’s Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing located on the east side of Texarkana College’s campus.
Dr. Smith was nominated for the prestigious award by longtime bladesmithing advocate B.R. Hughes, one of the founding fathers of the American Bladesmith Society and former dean of students at Texarkana College. Hughes helped establish the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing in 1987 as one of the only schools of its kind in the nation for many years. The school, which is run in connection with Texarkana College, was named after Bill Moran, the first smith of the twentieth century to successfully forge Damascus steel. The school, now located on the campus of Texarkana College, teaches the craft of bladesmithing, and certifies knife makers at journeyman and master bladesmith levels.
Don McIntosh, TC bladesmith instructor, said President Smith is worthy of the award because of his dedication to the mission of the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing and relocating the school on the Texarkana College campus in 2019 from its previous location in Washington, Arkansas.
