Richard Jay Smith
Richard Jay Smith earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brooklyn College in 1969 and his M.S. in Anatomy and his D.M.D. from Tufts University in 1973. Smith received a master of philosophy in 1978 and a doctorate in 1980, both in Anthropology from Yale University. He joined the faculty of the Washington University School of Dental Medicine in 1984 as professor and chairman of the Department of Orthodontics, having previously taught at University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine, the University of Maryland Dental School, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Smith was appointed dean of the School of Dental Medicine in 1989, serving as its last dean and overseeing the school’s closure in 1991. Smith was then appointed professor of anthropology at Washington University, becoming chair of that department in 1993. In 2001 Smith was named the Ralph E. Morrow Distinguished University Professor in Arts and Sciences.