George P. Smith II


George Patrick Smith II is an American academic. Until 2016 he was a professor of law at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America. He is now an emeritus professor at Catholic University, a Resident Fellow at The Institute for Advanced Study at Indiana University, and an Affiliated Scholar at The Georgetown University School of Medicine's Center for Global Health, Science and Security in Washington, D.C.

Education and career

Smith was born in Wabash, Indiana, where his father and uncle were both attorneys. He attended the St. Bernard School in Wabash and graduated from Wabash High School in 1957. He obtained an undergraduate degree in business, economics, and public policy from Indiana University Bloomington in 1961 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1964. While in law school, he was a member of the Indiana Law Review. In 1975, he earned an LL.M. degree from Columbia Law.
Early in his career, Smith taught at the University of Michigan Law School, University at Buffalo Law School, and University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) School of Law. His record of government service and consultancies includes:

Scholarship

Smith has been recognized as an expert in the "legal and ethical issues raised by modern medicine" and a "prescient prophet of the New Biology." A bibliography of Smith's works in law, science, and medicine covering the years 1964–1989 is available in the Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of his career in legal education in 1989, United States Congressman John T. Myers paid tribute to Smith's years of distinguished service to the legal profession.
Recent books by Smith include:Dignity as a Human Right?, Lexington Books Law and Bioethics: Intersections Along the Mortal Coil, Routledge Distributive Justice and the New Medicine, Elgar Press The Christian Religion and Biotechnology: A Search for Principled Decision Making, Springer Verlag Human Rights and Biomedicine, Kluwer International

Honors