Six years ago, Doug Smith and Bill Deverell hatched an idea that grew to be the Los Angeles Service Academy. Together, they worked on lifting the program off the ground, reaching out to experts in the history and workings of metropolitan Los Angeles, raised money, and reached out to an extraordinary group of high school students, teachers, administrators, and others who share in the vision that young people are both our future problem solvers and our future. Doug has been LASA’s Executive Director since LASA’s inception, and he’s been devoted, organized, thoughtful, and committed every step of the way. There’s just no way LASA does what it does or reaches the young people it does without Doug’s efforts and energy. We begin our fifth year of LASA in August of 2016 without Doug, who, besides spending his entire summer in London, is moving onto other obligations, other scholarly and teaching projects, and further work at the Colburn School of Music. In saying goodbye to Doug – who has promised to remain in a senior advisor capacity, thank goodness – we salute him with deep and sincere thanks.
