[4] He undertook postgraduate research in physics at the University of Warwick, graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.
[6][4] In 1992, Smith returned to England and began his academic career, having been appointed a lecturer at the University of Kent.
[4] On 1 May 2010, he was appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC), making him the second most senior academic at the University of Warwick.
[5] In December 2014, he became a trustee of Jisc (previously called the Joint Information Systems Committee).
[13] As of March 2015[update], he is the Chair of the Board of the Higher Education Careers Service Unit.
[4] He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to research and higher education.