[10] Attending Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia on a football scholarship,[3][10] he was active in student affairs before graduating magna cum laude[10] in 1981[3] with a bachelor's degree.
With responsibility for "a number of businesses serving the legal, regulatory and academic markets,"[10] in December 2001 he became Thomson's executive vice president of human resources and administration.
[5] After the formation of Thomson Reuters in April 2008,[7] Smith was named president and CEO of the combined company's professional division,[9][7][6] which sells tax, legal, and accounting products.
[1][4] Smith was then made COO of Thomson Reuters Corporation[5][6][4] in late September 2011[7][12] as "part of a move by the company to overhaul the structure of the group.
[10][9] A director of Pfizer, Inc. since June 26, 2014,[15][9] he is also on the boards of the World Economic Forum's Partnering Against Corruption Initiative[9] and the Brazil-U.S. Business Council.