1934
Dr. Smith is born in Lumberton, North Carolina to Allie McCoy Smith and Emma Hattie Smith.
1956
Dr. Smith receives a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with honors from North Carolina State University.
1956
Dr. Smith begins his career as an associate engineer at the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland.
1957
Dr. Smith marries Sarah Louise Whitlock and becomes a development engineer at the Western Electric Company.
1958
Dr. Smith becomes an instructor at North Carolina State University, eventually becoming an assistant professor.
1960
Dr. Smith joins the technical staff at the Bell Telephone Laboratories (now Bell Labs) in Burlington, North Carolina.
1961
Dr. Smith receives a Master of Science in aerospace engineering from North Carolina State University.
1962
Dr. Smith becomes a research project engineer at RTI International in Durham, North Carolina.
1966
Dr. Smith receives a Doctor of Philosophy in aerospace engineering from North Carolina State University and becomes a research supervisor at Sverdrup/ARO, Inc. at Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee.
1967
Dr. Smith becomes an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
1967
Dr. Smith authors “Fundamentals of Silicon Integrated Device Technology, Volume I: Oxidation, Diffusion and Epitaxy.”
1975
Dr. Smith serves as the associate editor of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Journal.
1978
Dr. Smith receives the Thermophysics Award from the AIAA.
1979
Dr. Smith is appointed dean of the School of Engineering at the University of Mississippi, where he also serves as a professor of mechanical engineering.
1984
Dr. Smith receives the Hermann Oberth Award and a Space Shuttle Flag Challenger Plaque from the AIAA.
1991
Dr. Smith serves as general chairman of engineering at the Deans Institute of the American Society for Engineering Education.
1994
Dr. Smith serves as supernumerary director of the Alabama-Mississippi section of the AIAA.
2000
Dr. Smith becomes Emeritus Dean of Engineering at the University of Mississippi.
2017
Dr. Smith is honored with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and is named a Distinguished Humanitarian by Marquis Who’s Who.
2018
Dr. Smith is inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University.