Major General William Ruthven Smith (April 2, 1868 – July 15, 1941) was a career United States Army officer who commanded the 36th Division during its deployment in France during the final months of World War I.

[2] His classmates included numerous men who would later attain general officer rank, such as Charles Pelot Summerall, Tracy Campbell Dickson, Frank W. Coe, Julian Robert Lindsey, James Ancil Shipton, Louis Chapin Covell, Preston Brown, George Blakely, Robert Mearns, Peter Weimer Davison, Howard Russell Hickok, Henry Howard Whitney, John E. Woodward, John McAuley Palmer and George Columbus Barnhardt.

Smith's early postings alternated between garrison service in field artillery and teaching at West Point as instructor of the separate subjects of chemistry, mathematics, ordnance, and gunnery.

[1] During his tour as superintendent, Smith helped secure Stewart Field in nearby Newburgh, New York as a base for the Army Air Corps and USMA pilot training.

After retirement, Smith returned to his native state of Tennessee, settling in Sewanee where he became superintendent of the local military academy (now St. Andrew's-Sewanee School) and served in that capacity until his death.