Gene A. Smith

Gene A. Smith is an American historian. He is a professor of History and the director of the Center for Texas Studies at Texas Christian University. He is the author of several books.

Early life
Smith was born on Saturday, September 7, 1963, in Fort Payne, Alabama, and grew up in Albertville, Alabama. 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 is a professor of American History at Texas Christian University, where he is also the director of the Center for Texas Studies.

Smith is the author of five books and editor of four more books. 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.