George Bundy Smith

George Bundy Smith (April 7, 1937 – August 5, 2017) was a lawyer and judge in New York State. While he was a law student at Yale University, he participated in the Freedom Ride from Atlanta, Georgia, to Montgomery, Alabama.

Early life Smith was born in New Orleans in 1937. He grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended Phillips Academy, where he was the only African-American in the Class of 1955.

In 2006, Governor George Pataki was urged to reappoint Smith to another term on the Court of Appeals, although Smith would have served only another 16 months on the Court before mandatory retirement at age 70. Pataki declined to reappoint Smith and instead nominated Justice Eugene F. Pigott Jr. to the seat.

After leaving the bench, Smith became a partner at the New York City law firm of Chadbourne & Parke and also worked as a mediator at JAMS. He was also an adjunct professor of law at Fordham Law School for many years both during and after his judicial service.

In December 2005, Smith was awarded the William Nelson Cromwell Award by the New York County Lawyers Association. Smith served several terms on the Board of Trustees of the Horace Mann School in Manhattan.

Smith's twin sister, Inez Smith Reid, served as a judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the District's equivalent of a state supreme court.