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Home Eight Over 80 Awards Eight Over 80 Award Winner Richard Smith

The University of Iowa Eight Over 80 Award

Richard "Dick" Smith 60BSME

As a Hawkeye whose proudest accomplishments include his family, business, and community giving, Richard "Dick" Smith has made a lasting impression. As founder and chairman of Agri-Industrial Plastics (AIP), he continues to contribute to organizations that enhance business and life in Iowa and beyond.

Smith was a student leader in ROTC and the Greek system while earning his mechanical engineering degree. While at Iowa, he met his wife, Judy, at an Omicron Delta Kappa/Mortar Board dinner. She graduated in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in education. Their 63-year marriage has served as the foundation for Dick’s business success and commitment to giving back.

He served in Korea before launching his career in plastic manufacturing. He founded AIP in Fairfield, Iowa, started a family, and found a myriad of opportunities to support his community and alma mater.

As leader of AIP for 37 years, Smith drove innovations that favored sustainable practices in engineering and manufacturing. Today, he remains active professionally and in the company’s community involvements. When AIP pledged $100,000 to support a local childcare facility in 2021, Smith championed the center, which opened in 2023.

Smith considers giving back a privilege. His leadership has benefited the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Fairfield Economic Development Association, and business and manufacturing groups. He donates to everything from his family’s church and school district to Habitat for Humanity and UI cancer research. His honors include the Fairfield Entrepreneurial Award, the Legends Award in Manufacturing from Iowa Association of Business and Industry, and the Society of Plastic Engineers Lifetime Achievement Award.

Smith and his wife have attended many Hawkeye football and basketball games, including two Rose Bowls 60 years apart. Long-time donors to the UI College of Engineering and medical research initiatives, their generosity has been appreciated at Iowa for nearly six decades.

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Noah and John Weitz

Noah and John Weitz have been active in Loras College Dance Marathon, which raises money for patients at UI Stead Family Children's Hospital. Funny ... joyful ... adventurous. Those are the words brothers Noah and John Weitz use to describe little sister, Anna. John would add one more. "Brave," he says. "At the amusement park, she went on more rides than me." They keep all of those words in mind when they celebrate her life. Anna Banana, as she is so lovingly referred to, died in her mother's arms on May 22, 2012, after a 19-month battle with cancer. She was only five. Her death prompted her brothers to make a difference for other kids and families who face the disease. The boys began raising money for pediatric cancer research at University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital. They encouraged their friends to join them, and in exchange for their hard work, the kids receive the ultimate reward: an invitation to Game Changers, a no-holds-barred, all-the-fun-you-can-handle sleepover at the Weitz home. Except they don't actually sleep. "We play video games all night long," says Noah. "Anna was really funny and goofy. And she really liked to dance." - Noah Weitz Mom, Krista, is totally on board and helps make sure the boys can up the ante each year, which is important, because Noah and John are ambitious fundraisers. In 2016, the boys and their friends raised $6,000?more than twice the amount they had raised the year before. "They make me nervous every year," says Krista. "Because they set these big goals and I think, 'How are you going to do that? It doesn't just happen.' And then, they all work together and get it done. They're amazing." While they work hard, they do manage to have lots of fun in the process, just as Anna would have wanted. "She was, like, really funny and goofy," says Noah. "And she really liked to dance." Adds John, "She basically just liked to do everything my brother and I did." One more word to add to the list: smart. Watch: Noah Weitz, John Weitz, and Krista Weitz

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