Smith received her BA from Dartmouth College and her MA, MPhil, and PhD (1997) from Yale University, all in classical archaeology.

[1] At Reading, Smith headed the redevelopment of the Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology in 2004-05 and has worked on the university's collection of vases publishing the 23rd British fascicule of the Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum project in 2007.

She is a member of the Winckelmann-Gesellschaft's International Committee focusing on events to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Winckelmann's birth.

[7] Smith is a co-organiser of a series of conferences to mark the anniversary and is also the co-curator (with Katherine Harloe) of the exhibition Winckelmann in Italy: Curiosity and connoisseurship in the 18th-century gentleman's study at Christ Church Upper Library from 29 June to 26 October 2018.

[14] Member of the advisory board of the Institute in Ancient Itineraries: The Digital Lives of Art History based at King's College, London.