Gary Smith (born July 26, 1954 in
) is an American
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and culture manager.
Early life and education
Smith grew up in
Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. After graduating from high school in 1972, he went on to study philosophy and German in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
and
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
as well as in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
as a
DAAD scholarship recipient. After completing a dissertation on
Walter Benjamin
Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist.
An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mys ...
, Smith earned his doctorate in 1989 from
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
.
Career
Between 1986 and 1992, Smith had teaching positions in Boston,
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, and
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
, Germany, as well as at the
Berlin University
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
, where he lectured on Jewish studies and philosophy. From 1992 to 1998, he led the
Einstein Forum in Potsdam.
From 1997 until 2014, Smith was the Executive Director of the
American Academy in Berlin
The American Academy in Berlin is a private, independent, nonpartisan research and cultural institution in Berlin dedicated to sustaining and enhancing the long-term intellectual, cultural, and political ties between the United States and Germany ...
. His academic publications include: ''Benjaminiana. Eine biographische Recherche'', with Hans-Georg Puttnies; ''Gershom Scholem. Zwischen den Disziplinen''; ''Amnestie, oder die Politik der Erinnerung in der Demokratie'', with
Avishai Margalit
Avishai Margalit ( he, אבישי מרגלית, born 1939) is an Israeli professor emeritus in philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. From 2006 to 2011, he served as the George F. Kennan Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in ...
; ''Wissenbilder. Strategien der Überlieferung'', with Ulrich Raullf; ''Hannah Arendt Revisited: Eichmann in Jerusalem''.
Since 2016, Smith has been a member of the so-called ''Limbach Commission'' (Advisory Commission on the return of cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution, especially Jewish property), a panel convened by the German government to give recommendations on restitution claims regarding art works stolen or purchased under duress by the Nazis.
Members
Advisory Commission on the return of cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution, especially Jewish property.
Recognition
For his dedication to the building of networks in knowledge and cultural exchange on the national and international levels, he earned the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...
in 2002. In 2011, the city of Berlin thanked Smith for his cultural and scholarly development of the German-American friendship and the contributions to the city with intellectual, challenging, and outstanding events with the Order of Merit of Berlin.
Personal life
Smith is in his second marriage to the daughter of the former Berlin Mayor, Klaus Schütz
Klaus Schütz (17 September 1926
. He has a son from his first marriage and a son as well as twin daughters from his second marriage.
References
External links
Gary Smith is Executive Director Emeritus of the American Academy in Berlin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Gary
1954 births
Living people
People from New Orleans
People from Austin, Texas
American philosophers
20th-century American philosophers
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Recipients of the Order of Merit of Berlin