James C. Smith (born 1959) is an American business executive. He started his career as a journalist and editor, joined Thomson Newspapers in 1987 and subsequently held management positions such as head of Thomson Newspapers in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

(COO) of the Thomson Corporation. After serving as CEO of

Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corpora ...

' professional division, Thomson Reuters named him COO in 2011 and CEO in January 2012. In February 2020, Steve Hasker succeeded Smith as President and CEO of Thomson Reuters. Involved with initiatives such as the international business council of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

, he is also on the board of

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

Early life and education

James C. Smith was born in 1959 in

Carlisle, Kentucky Carlisle is a home rule-class city in Nicholas County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,010 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Nicholas County. It is located at the junction of Kentucky Route 32 and Kentucky Route 36, a ...

, where he spent his youth. Attending

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

on a football scholarship, he was active in student affairs before graduating

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

in 1981 with a bachelor's degree. In 2017, the university awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Career

Early in his career Smith worked as a journalist for small newspapers such as the ''Carlisle Mercury'', where he was both a reporter and an editor. He was serving as the managing editor of the '' Charleston Daily Mail'' when it was acquired by Thomson Newspapers in 1987, at which point Smith joined the Thomson newspaper group. He initially held several staff and operating positions, after which he was made responsible for Thomson Newspapers' operations in North America. According to ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

'', while he served as the head of the unit in the United States, Thomson Newspapers became "one of the first media companies to shift away from the declining newspaper business to focus on electronic publishing." After the company sold its newspaper business in 2000, Smith moved to the Thomson Corporation's professional publishing side. With responsibility for "a number of businesses serving the legal, regulatory and academic markets," in December 2001 he became Thomson's executive vice president of

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...

and administration. He then became the company's executive VP of development and corporate affairs in January 2002, and in April 2005 he was appointed president and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

(CEO) of Thomson Corporation's academic publishing division. Smith subsequently served as Thomson's

(COO).

Thomson Reuters COO and CEO

After the formation of

in April 2008, Smith was named president and CEO of the combined company's professional division, which sells tax, legal, and accounting products. Smith was then made COO of Thomson Reuters Corporation in late September 2011 as "part of a move by the company to overhaul the structure of the group." On January 1, 2012, Smith became CEO and president of Thomson Reuters. Smith was succeeded by Steve Hasker as Thomson Reuters' President and CEO in February 2020.

Memberships

Smith is on the international business council of the

and the international

advisory board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to th ...

s of the British American Business Council and the

Atlantic Council The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosp ...

. A director of

Pfizer, Inc. Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

since June 26, 2014, he is also on the boards of the World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative and the Brazil-U.S. Business Council.

Personal life

He lives in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, Canada with his wife Pam Kushmerick. He has four sons. He was inducted into the

College of Business Hall of Fame in 2014, and he delivered the keynote address for Marshall University's commencement ceremony in 2017.

References

External links

Biography at Thomson Reuters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jim Living people 1959 births People from Carlisle, Kentucky Writers from Stamford, Connecticut Marshall University alumni 20th-century American journalists American male journalists American chief executives American corporate directors Thomson Reuters people