Smith then returned to graduate school at the University of Chicago, where he received his Ph.D. under the advisement of Gilbert Ames Bliss.

A Georgia Tech professor and former student of Smith's remembered him as "a friendly, inspiring curmudgeon who could scare the hell out of you, teach you, advise you, and follow your future after graduation.

"[13] Other Georgia Tech alumni who were instructed by Smith called him "a gifted teacher",[14] unforgettable, likable, and "a good-hearted guy.

[16][17] Physically, Smith was described as "a small, white-haired gentleman with a noticeable limp caused by a short leg" who "always wore a black suit with a bow tie."

The English collegiate architectural style of the building, recommended by Georgia Tech architecture faculty members John L. Skinner and Harold Bush-Brown, would serve as an influential model for Georgia Tech campus buildings constructed over the next twenty years.

[18] Presently, the building is home to the School of Public Policy and the Pre-Law Departments in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.