Dr. Richard Smith has over two decades of academic and directorial experience at Simon Fraser University. A professor at the School of Communication at SFU for over fifteen years, he has also served as Director of SFU’s Centre for Policy Research on Science and Technology (CPROST) for the past ten years.
His active engagement with local, national and international media on issues related to his research into the contemporary world of technology, social media and public surveillance has also made him a recognized public commentator. His service to the university through public affairs and media relations earned Dr. Smith the 2009 SFU President’s Award.
In addition to research focused on social inclusion (and exclusion) brought on by the introduction of digital media, Dr. Smith keeps an ongoing interest in education technology, privacy and public surveillance, online communities, and the wireless information society. His diverse projects and creative works have explored such subjects as privacy issues in the use of mobile technology, electronic scholarly publishing, and the development of technologies for mobile media-rich, urban shared experiences.
With his graduate students, Richard Smith is also working on critical studies of "addictive" on-line games, new communication technology in the home, open source software and social activism, and information technology in support of first nations development and tele-health.
With academic training in communication and law, Dr. Smith has degrees from Carleton University (BA) and Simon Fraser University (MA and PhD). He is a member of the Canadian Communication Association, and the International Association for Management of Technology. He is also the publisher of the Canadian Journal of Communication.