Marshall S. Smith

Marshall S. Smith ( – May 1, 2023) was an American educator. He held academic positions at Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Stanford University, where he was Dean of the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. He also held positions in the Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama White House administrations.

Academic career Smith received his undergraduate degree in 1960 from Harvard College and EdD degree in Measurement and Statistics in 1970 from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In the 1980s and 1990s he published research making the case for aligning K-12 education teaching, tests, and textbooks with state standards, pushing for "systemic" reform in US education. His work has been cited as having a "powerful influence" on implementing school accountability measures and performance standards. This included advocating for professional development for teachers over their careers. His work on systemic reform during this period was influential on the then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and his future presidential education policies. under Ernest Boyer in the Jimmy Carter administration. In this position he helped to develop education legislation targeting school reform. Smith also worked as the chief of staff to the first secretary for education.

After leading the transition team for K-12 education Smith spent seven years in the Bill Clinton administration as the undersecretary of education and acting deputy secretary of education for the final four years of his tenure. His role included all policy and budget matters, and as acting deputy, he was the second ranked education official in the administration.

Between 2001 and 2009, Smith served as the head of education programs for The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation where he and his team developed and funded Open Education Resources and where he was a proponent of Rice University's Connexions and the Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative, advocating the development of free online tools for American students. Starting in 2009, Smith worked as a senior adviser to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in the Barack Obama administration. He also served as the Department of Education's director of international affairs.

Death Smith died on May 1, 2023, at the age of 85.