Skip to main content
Intellect

Venezuela, narcotics trafficking topic for BYU lecture Nov. 5

“Narcotics Trafficking and the Increasingly Important Role Venezuela Plays as a Transit Country” will be the topic of a Brigham Young University Foreign Service Lecture on Monday, Nov. 5, at 2 p.m. in 238 Herald R. Clark Building.

The lecture will be presented by BYU alumnus Willard Tenney Smith as part of the David M. Kennedy Center’s Hometown Diplomat Program.

Smith is the first secretary and director of the Narcotics Affairs and Law Enforcement Section of the American Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, where he works to interrupt the transit of narcotics and promote rule of law through support of local law enforcement and judicial sectors.

He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1992 after having worked as an intelligence officer with the Department of Defense and in a variety of positions in Mexico, Peru, Jordan, Guyana and Washington, D.C. He has been given many awards for his service.

Prior to his government assignments, Smith served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cordoba, Argentina, and received a bachelor’s in Near Eastern studies from BYU. His master’s degree is from the University of Texas at Austin.

This lecture will be archived online. For more information on David M. Kennedy Center events, see the calendar online at kennedy.byu.edu.

Writer: Marissa Ballantyne

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Wildfires in residential areas are on the rise; why hydrants and the water system behind them were never meant to stop those fires

July 01, 2025
BYU professor Rob Sowby teaches and studies environmental engineering, urban water infrastructure and sustainability. He has particular expertise in the planning, design, construction and operation of public water systems. That expertise has been increasingly important (and regularly sought out) in the wake of apocalyptic wildfires that have taxed those public water systems.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Meet the BYU math student helping make wildfire predictions faster and smarter

June 25, 2025
Using machine learning and math, a BYU student improved a key tool firefighters rely on during wildfire season
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Geology meets history: BYU professor studies WWII shrapnel on Normandy beaches

June 05, 2025
Eighty years after D-Day, BYU geologists uncover lingering WWII shrapnel on Normandy beaches to study how history still shapes the coastline today.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= promoTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= promoTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=