An eminent vascular surgeon, Robert B. Smith, III, MD, combined administrative roles with clinical duties throughout a distinguished and Emory-based career that spanned almost four decades. He received his MD from the Emory University School of Medicine in 1957, completed his general surgery residency at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in 1965 and joined the faculty of the Department of Surgery at Emory in 1966, participating in Georgia's first organ transplant shortly thereafter.

After serving as chief of the surgical service at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center from 1969-88, Dr. Smith was honored with the Distinguished Service Award of the Association of VA Surgeons. From 1984-98, he was the chief of the Emory Vascular Service. By the time he retired in August 2006, Dr. Smith had served 11-years as medical director of Emory University Hospital and 15-years as associate chairman of the Department of Surgery.

Throughout his career Dr. Smith held a variety of organizational memberships, including serving presidential terms for the International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery-North American Chapter, the Southern Association for Vascular Surgery, the Georgia Surgical Society and the Atlanta Vascular Society. His bibliography includes 218 scientific articles and book chapters, he co-edited four textbooks and he served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Vascular Surgery and Cardiovascular Surgery.

The Robert B. Smith, III, Visiting Professorship was inaugurated in 2006 to honor Dr. Smith's many years of impressive service to his chosen field, to the Emory community, and to his patients and students.

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