C. Frederic Smith, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor of Practice

Fred Smith has a B.S. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Purdue University, all in Aeronautics and Astronautics. He worked in the aerospace industry for over 40 years and retired in 2024. During his career he co-authored a few dozen papers and was a co-inventor on several patents. Fred is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He was an adjunct professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) for about 15 years and taught a senior/graduate level class called "Design Optimization Methods".

Fred is married with three grown children and several grandchildren. As a creative outlet he has been authoring books for over ten years, and publishing one book in 2025. He also enjoys playing golf and his hobby is astronomy.