Smith is a trustee for the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a member of the Business Roundtable and The Business Council. He served as chairman of the US-China Business Council and is co-chairman of the French-American Business Council. He has also served on the boards of several large public companies and on the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Mayo Foundation boards. He was formerly chairman of the Board of Governors for the International Air Transport Association and the U.S. Air Transport Association.
Smith has received numerous civic, academic, and business awards, including the Global Leadership Award from the U.S.-India Business Council, the George C. Marshall Foundation Award, the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished Business Leadership Award, and the Circle of Honor Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. In addition, he is a member of the Aviation Hall of Fame, served as co-chairman of both the U.S. World War II Memorial Project and the campaign for the National Museum of the Marine Corps, was cited in Forbes “100 Greatest Living Business Minds,” and was named a top CEO by Barron’s and Chief Executive magazines.
Born in 1944 in Marks, Mississippi, Smith earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1966. He served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1966 to 1970.