Richard Jay Smith, an American anthropologist, (born 1948) is Ralph E. Morrow Distinguished Professor of Physical Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis.
After Tufts, he studied at Yale University where he earned a master's degree in philosophy in 1978 and a doctorate in anthropology in 1980.
[1] Richard Smith joined the faculty at Washington University in 1984 and served as a professor and chair of the Department of Orthodontics, in the former School of Dental Medicine.
Among undergraduates, Smith is famous for his course "Introduction to Human Evolution," which was one of the most popular classes on campus until his appointment as Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 2008.
He specifically is concerned with the evolution of the human brain, the craniofacial skeleton and gender differences in body size.