William Smith (teacher)

William Macdonald Smith (born 25 June 1939 ) is a South African science and mathematics teacher who is best known for his maths and science lessons on television. Born in Makhanda (Grahamstown), he is the son of the ichthyologist Margaret Mary Smith and Professor J. L. B. Smith, the renowned chemist and ichthyologist who identified the coelacanth.

Early life and education
He attended St. Andrew's Prep before matriculating at Union High School in Graaff-Reinet. He then went on to study at Rhodes University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and chemistry, followed by an honours degree (cum laude) in chemistry at the same institution. Following that, he obtained a master's degree from the University of Natal (Pietermaritzburg campus) in only seven months.

During his time at school and university, Smith showed an interest in film and camerawork, scripting, shooting, and producing the 50-minute feature documentary, ‘The Garden Route,’ in 1960. The film was digitised and relaunched in 2010.

He started working at African Explosives and Chemical Industries (AECI). Deciding that he would rather pursue a teaching career, Smith left the industry and moved to the education sector, where he started 'Star Schools,' named for the mass-circulation Johannesburg newspaper, The Star, which published material that Smith prepared to support his lessons. The aim of these schools is to provide value-for-money supplementary education with top-class teachers to prepare learners for their matriculation exams. During the next 25 years, Smith became famous throughout South Africa, winning a 'Teacher of the Year' award in 1991.

Smith ran his first multi-racial school in the 1970s, despite problems with the Apartheid authorities. At that time, education facilities were segregated under legislation such as the Bantu Education Act (1953), and black children were prohibited from attending classes on campuses that had been reserved for whites. Smith, however, never turned any black student away from any class, and made Star Schools more accessible by offering instruction in subjects that weren’t adequately covered by the Bantu Education system - such as mathematics and physical science. (Bantu Education was reserved for black learners, while Christian National Education was reserved for whites. Under Apartheid legislation, South Africa had as many as nineteen different education departments).

In 1990, Smith began producing The Learning Channel educational television programmes with the financial backing of Hylton Appelbaum, then executive director of the Liberty Life Foundation. As a result of his work on this programme, Smith was voted as one of the top three presenters on South African television in 1998.

Other achievements
Smith is also a renowned conservationist and owned the Featherbed Nature Reserve in Knysna, where he lived until the sale of the land and company in 2008. He was also the owner of 'Rivercat Ferries', which has several craft that cruise in the Knysna lagoon and out to sea.

He appeared along with Jeremy Mansfield in the popular South African television quiz show, A Word or 2. Smith was also a judge for the Miss South Africa Pageant in 1998 and 1999.