Hugh H. Smythe

Hugh Heyne Smythe (August 19, 1913 – June 22, 1977) was an American author, sociologist, diplomat and professor. He was an authority on African anthropology and East Asian studies. He received his PhD in anthropology from Northwestern University, under thesis advisor, Melville Herskovits, with funding from the Rosenwald Fund.

He served as the United States Ambassador to Syria from 1965 to 1967 and United States Ambassador to Malta from 1967 to 1969.

Smythe taught sociology and anthropology at the university level at multiple schools, both in the United States and abroad. From 1951 to 1953, he taught at the Yamaguchi National University as a Visiting Professor of Sociology and Anthropology. From 1962 to 1965, he taught sociology at Brooklyn College. At the same time, he worked as a Fulbright Professor at Chulalongkorn University.

From 1961 to 1962, Smythe was a senior adviser in economic and social affairs to the US Mission to the United Nations. He also served a tour as the US senior advisor to the National Research Council in Thailand. He left the country on June 8, 1967 after Syria severed diplomatic ties with the US and became the ambassador to Malta.

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