WACO (July 29, 2010)-Ron Smith, an accounting teacher at Waco's A.J. Moore Academy, died early Thursday morning after a short battle with cancer.

Smith joined the A.J. Moore faculty in the fall of 2002 after 34 years in the business world, bringing with him knowledge in business and finance from his tenures as chief fiancial officer of major energy corporations, Principal Angela Reiher said.

In 2004, he helped started the school’s Internal Revenue Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program in which students are certified every year to complete electronic tax returns for the area residents at no charge.

Since the program started, students have prepared more than 7,200 tax returns, saving taxpayers about $1.2 million and resulting in about $10.5 million in refunds.

The program was so successful that Smith and A.J. Moore both received national recognition from the Internal Revenue Service.

He was named teacher of the year by his peers in 2007 and received the Zeta Phi Beta Educator of the Year award in 2009, Reiher said.

He received a KWTX Golden Apple Award in the spring of 2009.

Funeral arrangements were pending Thursday.