Tim Smith
Prof. Timothy D. Smith joined the School of Journalism and Mass Communication faculty at Kent State University in 1986 after working for 19 years for the Akron Beacon Journal, leaving as managing editor. He has also worked for the Columbus Dispatch, the Painesville Telegraph and United Press International.
He has a bachelor’s degree and master’s in journalism from Ohio State University and a law degree from the University of Akron. In 1991, while on leave from the university, Smith served as a law clerk for now-retired Ohio Supreme Court Justice Craig Wright. In June 1991, he was named acting director of the School, a post he held until June 1994, when he returned to the faculty and resumed his service as adviser to the Daily Kent Stater, the student newspaper.
In addition to his teaching duties, Smith serves as a newspaper consultant, an expert witness in media law cases and as a lecturer on media relations, libel, invasion of privacy and public records issues.
In 1996, he received the John S. Knight Award for excellence in the service of journalism by the Buckeye Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists. In 1997, he was selected as a Fellow of the American Society of Newspaper Editors Journalism Excellence program, a summer newspaper residency for journalism professors. In 2000, he was presented with the Distinguished Teaching Award by Kent State University Alumni Association. In the fall of 2003, Smith took a professional leave to work in the Portage County Public Defender’s office, representing indigent clients in municipal and common pleas courts.
He is a member of the American and Ohio State bar associations and a founding member of the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Media Law Committee of the state bar. In 1991, he created the Ohio Center for Privacy and the First Amendment at Kent State. In 2007, the name was changed to the Media Law Center for Ethics and Access with Prof. Jan Leach as the director and Smith as the chair.
