Gene A. Smith

Gene Allen Smith
Born (1963-09-07) September 7, 1963 (age 63)
Alabama, U.S.
EducationAuburn University
OccupationHistorian
EmployerTexas Christian University

Gene A. Smith is an American historian. He was a professor of American History, and the Director of the Center for Texas Studies at Texas Christian University, retiring in May 2026. He is the author of six books, and co-author of another. He further served as editor (or co-editor) of seven additional volumes.

Early life

Smith was born on September 7, 1963, in Fort Payne, Alabama, and grew up in Albertville. Playing sports and serving in the Civil Air Patrol as a teen, he graduated from Albertville High School in 1981. Growing up a University of Alabama fan, he instead chose to attend Auburn University for academic reasons—to become a veterinarian. Ultimately, a course in chemistry put him on the path to becoming a historian. Serving in Theta Xi fraternity, he eventually became vice-president and that service, assisted him to become the Auburn University Fraternity Advisor during the 1987–1988 academic years. He earned a bachelor's degree at Auburn University in 1984, followed by a master's degree in 1987, and a PhD in 1991.

Career

Smith began his career during the fall of 1991 in academia at (Eastern Montana College), now Montana State University Billings. He then became a professor of American History at Texas Christian University in the fall of 1994, where he would also become the director of the Center for Texas Studies in 2002. He also served as the Class of 1957 Distinguished Professor in Naval Heritage at the United States Naval Academy in the 2013–14, and 2022-23 academic years.

His first book, 'For the Purposes of Defense': The Politics of the Jeffersonian Gunboat Program, based on his PhD dissertation, looked at Thomas Jefferson's naval strategy during the early nineteenth century and War of 1812. He authored two more books about Manifest Destiny, including Filibusters and Expansionists with Frank Lawrence Owsley, Jr. of Auburn University, which was praised as "a quality piece of historical writing" and "a valuable contribution to the historiography of expansion and the Gulf South" in The Journal of Southern History. Another book is a biography of Thomas ap Catesby Jones, who served in the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War. Smith has also authored a book about the role of slaves in the War of 1812, which was lauded as "essential and informative reading" in the Journal of the Early Republic. He has also published as the lead author a military history textbook, entitled In Harm's Way: The American Military Experience (Oxford University Press, 2019), which combines military, naval and air power history and is used at a number of institutions across the United States.

Selected works

As an author

As an editor

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Gene Allen Smith". History Department. Texas Christian University. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  2. ↑ Smith, Gene. "Gene Allen Smith CV" (PDF). TCU Department of History Faculty Directory. Retrieved May 6, 2026.
  3. ↑ McDonough, Daniel (August 1996). "Reviewed Work: "For the Purposes of Defense": The Politics of the Jeffersonian Gunboat Program by Gene A. Smith". The Journal of Southern History. 62 (3): 573–574. doi:10.2307/2211515. JSTOR 2211515.
  4. ↑ Ferrari, Mary (May 1999). "Reviewed Work: Filibusters and Expansionists: Jeffersonian Manifest Destiny, 1800-1821 by Frank Lawrence Owsley Jr., Gene A. Smith". The Journal of Southern History. 65 (2): 396–397. doi:10.2307/2587384. JSTOR 2587384.
  5. ↑ Cusick, James G. (Winter 2013). "Reviewed Work: The Slaves' Gamble: Choosing Sides in the War of 1812 by Gene Allen Smith". Journal of the Early Republic. 33 (4): 789–791. doi:10.1353/jer.2013.0086. JSTOR 24486802. S2CID 145772424.