Thomas W. Smith is Professor of Political Science and Associate Dean of the Judy Genshaft Honors College at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. He holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the College of William & Mary and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. He has taught at USF since 2000. From 1997-2000 Dr. Smith was an assistant professor of International Relations at Koç University in Istanbul. During the summer of 1999 he was a visiting scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. He spent the 2007-2008 academic year at Stanford University.

Dr. Smith has published widely in the fields of human rights, international humanitarian law, and Turkish politics. His second book, Human Rights and War Through Civilian Eyes, was published recently by the University of Pennsylvania Press. His current research focuses on the destruction of Kurdish cities in Southeastern Turkey.

In addition, he is the author of History and International Relations (Routledge) as well as articles in International Studies Quarterly, Human Rights Quarterly, International Studies Perspectives, Journal of Human Rights, International Politics, International Journal of Human Rights, History of Political Thought, and Ethics & International Affairs, among other venues. His research has been reprinted in translation and in collected volumes.

Dr. Smith is co-founder of the St. Petersburg Conference on World Affairs, now a flagship event on the campus of USF St. Petersburg. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Holocaust Museum.