Education
He received his Bachelor of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Juris Doctor (law degree) from Georgetown University.
He received his Bachelor of Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Juris Doctor (law degree) from Georgetown University.
In 2011 the American Heritage Dictionary admitted his decapitalized surname, "smoot", as one of the 10,000 new words added to their fifth edition The term is named for Smoot from his undergraduate days when he was used as a unit of measure during a fraternity pledge. He is primarily known in Boston, Massachusetts for the smoot marks on the Harvard Bridge, where he was used as a unit of measure for measuring the length of the bridge, as part of a fraternity pledging prank.
Smoot gave a speech to a hearing of the House Science Committee"s Subcommittee on Technology on March 20, 2000, entitled “The Role of Technical Standards in Today"s Society and in the Future".
He returned to Massachusetts Institute of Technology on October 4, 2008 for a 50th anniversary celebration, including the installation of a plaque on the bridge. Smoot was also presented with an official unit of measurement: a smoot stick.
He will serve as the grand marshal of the parade on May 7, 2016, marking the centenary of Massachusetts Institute of Technology"s moving from Boston"s Back Bay into Cambridge.
Smoot, a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the class of 1962.