University of Waterloo professor Larry Smith marks 45 years of teaching this year, celebrating a career defined by empowering students to think critically and pursue bold, entrepreneurial paths.
Smith, a professor in the Faculty of Engineering’s Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business, specializes in forecasting and the economics of innovation. His wildly popular lectures are packed to the brim with generations of students and alumni from across campus.
Smith began his career in the University’s Department of Economics and estimates he has taught more than 30,000 students through teaching appointments in the faculties of Arts, Science, Environment and Engineering, including a long-term partnership with the School of Architecture.
Former students point to Smith as a defining part of their Waterloo experience. Vidyard co-founder and CEO Michael Litt (BASc ’11, systems design engineering) credits Smith for shaping his co-op choices and entrepreneurial mindset, recalling evening lectures that went on until midnight. Waterloo Arts alum Rosalie Wyonch (BA ’14, MA ’16) said Smith’s ECON101 class inspired her and many others to pursue economics as a career.
Smith received the University’s Distinguished Teacher Award in 1993 for his energy and ability to make economics relevant.
“The goal was never just to teach students to think,” Smith said. “It was to help them think differently and then act with purpose.”
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