[1] Originally from Bristol, England, Smith received his doctorate from the University of London in biology before going on to study in the Bahamas.
Three years later, in 1943, he started the university's marine laboratory with only a secretary and two assistants in a small boathouse.
The laboratory Smith founded is now the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science.
Smith was also chairman of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute for ten years from 1948.
With Henry Chapin, Smith wrote two books, The Ocean River (1952), and The Sun, the Sea and Tomorrow (1954).