Carl Herbert Smith was a prominent American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 computer scientist

Computer scientist

A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....

. He was a pioneer in computational complexity

Computational Complexity

Computational Complexity may refer to:*Computational complexity theory*Computational Complexity...

 and learning theory

Learning theory

Learning theory may refer to:* Learning theory , the process of how humans learn** Behaviorism** Cognitivism** Constructivism** Connectivism* Computational learning theory, a mathematical theory to analyze machine learning algorithms...

.

Smith was program manager of the National Science Foundation

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

's theoretical computer science

Theoretical computer science

Theoretical computer science is a division or subset of general computer science and mathematics which focuses on more abstract or mathematical aspects of computing....

 program, and editor of the International Journal of the Foundations of Computer Science, Theoretical Computer Science

Theoretical Computer Science

The term Theoretical Computer Science may refer to:*The field of theoretical computer science.*Theoretical Computer Science , a journal covering this field....

, and Fundamenta Informaticae

Fundamenta Informaticae

The academic journal Fundamenta Informaticae is a computer science journal edited by Andrzej Skowron . It was launched in 1977 by the Polish Mathematical Society as Series IV of the annals "Annales Societatis Mathematicae Polonae", with its main focus on theoretical foundations of computer science...

. He held professorships at Purdue University

Purdue University

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

 and the University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

. He organized the first conferences on computational learning in the U.S. in the 1980s. He earned a PhD from the State University of Buffalo in 1979, and received Habilitation

Habilitation

Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...

 degree from the University of Latvia

University of Latvia

University of Latvia is a university located in Riga, Latvia. Being established in 1919, University of Latvia is the biggest university in the Baltic states.-History:...

 in 1993. He was a member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences

Latvian Academy of Sciences

The Academy of Sciences is the official science academy of Latvia and is an association of the country's foremost scientists. The academy was founded as the Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences . It is located in Riga...

.

He was the author of the popular textbook Theory of Computation: A Gentle Introduction.