[1][2][3] She is known for her work on Greek law and her longstanding involvement in and support of the Summer Session of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
Smith's doctoral dissertation focused on Greek law,[4] a subject she continued to work on during her time on the faculty of the University of Chicago.
Smith was, in particular, highly influential in the organisation of the Summer Session from the 1950s onwards and noted that the School's function was "to afford the opportunity to the uninitiated to get some acquaintance with Greece and really to learn something of its history, art, literature, and monuments" (ADM REC Series 100, Box 106/1, Folder 3, 16 September 1957).
Smith was also part of the move to offer Byzantine Studies at ASCSA, with the Gennadeion Fellowship in Post-Classical Greece first awarded in 1963.
Towards the end of Smith's involvement in the ASCSA, she worked to widen access to membership of the School to non-American and Canadian students.