Gary Smith (born July 26, 1954 in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

) is an American

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and culture manager.

Early life and education

Smith grew up in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. After graduating from high school in 1972, he went on to study philosophy and German in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

as well as in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

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, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western M ...

, Smith earned his doctorate in 1989 from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Career

Between 1986 and 1992, Smith had teaching positions in Boston,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, Germany, as well as at the

Berlin University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt ...

, 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 German ...

. 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 (; 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 Princeton. Early life and ...

; ''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 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
– 29 November 2012) was a German politician, who ...

. 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