Robert Smith (August 25, 1732 – October 28, 1801) was an English-born American clergyman, planter and prelate of the Episcopal Church who served as the first Bishop of South Carolina from 1795 to 1801.

He was educated at the Norwich Grammar School, before enrolling at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, from where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1753.

He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from the University of Pennsylvania in 1789.Smith was ordained deacon in the Church of England on March 7, 1756, and then priest on December 21, 1756, both by the Bishop of Ely Matthias Mawson.

On February 17, 1775, it is noted in the official sermon brief that Smith "Preached Before the Commons House of Assembly, and the Members of the Provincial Congress- at the request of the House, & Members of said Congress on February 17th 1775- Observed as a day of fasting & humiliation, on account of the unhappy differences between Great Britain & her Colonies.

In other sermons, Smith propagated proslavery messages, as he was a wealthy member of the South Carolinian planter class.

The college began classes on July 3, 1785, inside the home of Bishop Robert Smith, located on 6 Glebe Street in the Harelston Village neighborhood.