(1908 - 1972)
Inducted:1976
A.J. Smaby was the youngest chief executive of a regional cooperative wholesale at the age of 32. He served 25 years as general manager of Midland Cooperatives. In the late 1930's, he helped introduce a simplified formula to determine financial progress and welfare of a cooperative measuring rod that attracted nationwide attention.
Through his career, he devoted much time and energy to cooperation among cooperatives. He pursued this at various times as a director and board chairman of the National Cooperative Business Association, director of the Fund for International Cooperative Development, trustee of the American Institute of Cooperation, and member of the central committee of the International Cooperative Alliance.