He negotiated a long term loan of a collection of Egyptian antiquities from Eton College to Johns Hopkins University. He has also traveled to Uganda, Viet Nam and Thailand with the Rockefeller Foundation and to China and the Middle East as a Special Envoy of the State Department. His most recent scholarly trip was to Antarctica. Smith serves on the following civic boards: the Royal Shakespeare Company, Curtis Institute of Music Advisory Board, Central Park Conservancy, George Mason Life Sciences Advisory Board, the Library of Congress, the American Research Center in Egypt - Presidential Appointee, and Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. Over the years, Smith has served on the boards of Bell Atlantic, the Carnegie Corporation, Westinghouse, CBS, Corestates Financial, First Union (now Wells Fargo), US Airways, NTT DoCoMo, the Carnegie Corporation Board of Trustees; the Rockefeller Foundation, the Lincoln Center Board of Trustees, President’s Committee on the Arts & Humanities, University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees, the Philadelphia Orchestra-Director, National Forum on Education & Technology, President’s Committee for Educational Technology-Founding Member, Board of Overseers of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences-University of Pennsylvania, Board of Visitors of the Fuqua School of Business-Duke University, the Urban Affairs Partnership-Director, the Franklin Institute-Director, the Business Roundtable, Business Higher Education Forum, Challenger Center for Space Science Education Board, Private Sector Council – National Advisory Board, Arden Theater Company – Board of Advisors, Bell Communications Research, Inc.-Director, AMPS, Inc., Philadelphia Urban Coalition-Director, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania–Director and chairman of the Management Committee, Delaware Valley Regional Energy Council-Chairman, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation-Executive Board, and Philadelphia Economic Advisory Board-Chairman  He holds a B.S. degree from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.B.A degree from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh. He has been awarded honorary degrees from – Doctor of Humane Letters – 1987, Spring Garden College – Doctor of Business Administration – 1989, Drexel University – Doctor of Science – 1994, Stevens Institute of Technology – Doctor of Engineering – 1995, New York Institute of Technology – Doctor of Science – 1998, and University of Pittsburgh – Doctor of Commercial Science – 2009. He spends a month a year studying in Oxford’s Christchurch College and is a frequent participant in Smithsonian Lectures. He is a newly appointed Visiting Professor of Business and Engineering at George Mason University.