SCHMITT, DOROTHY PRENTISS (24 June 1897-29 Dec. 1985) served on the board of trustees of Western Reserve University (1953-67), was the only woman charter member of the board of the federated CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY (CWRU, 1967), and was made honorary board member in 1969. She was also president of many reform and cultural groups, including the EAST END NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE, the GARDEN CENTER OF GREATER CLEVELAND, and the Friends of the CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY. Schmitt established the Andrew E. Schmitt Auditorium at CWRU in memory of her son and the Alice Chalifoux harpist chair in the CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA in her husband's memory.
The niece of FRANCIS FLEURY PRENTISS, she was born in Winona, MN, to Samuel and Maude Lewis Prentiss. She graduated from Rosemary Hall in CT (1916), Vassar College (1920), and received a library science degree from WRU (1925). She worked at the Cleveland Public Library until her marriage on 24 June 1927 to RALPH S. SCHMITT (d. 1974).
Schmitt then devoted her energies to her family (Rebecca Richardson and Andrew) and community efforts. She was a member of the advisory council for the CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, a chair of the Junior Board of ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL, and served on the boards of the CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC, UNIVERSITY CIRCLE, INC., the Cleveland WELFARE FEDERATION, and the Cleveland Center on Alcoholism, among others. She received many local awards, including the Margaret Ireland Award from the WOMEN'S CITY CLUB, of which she was a member, and an honorary doctorate from CWRU (1970). The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce (see the GREATER CLEVELAND GROWTH ASSOCIATION) gave Schmitt and her husband its Public Service Medal in 1962. Schmitt belonged to the CHURCH OF THE COVENANT (PRESBYTERIAN).