Larry Smith, Adjunct Associate Professor, Director of the Problem Lab

Larry Smith is Director of the University of Waterloo’s Problem Lab, whose sole mandate is to help find and understand important problems. Larry is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Economics, and is a member of the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business. He is Recipient of the University of Waterloo’s Distinguished Teacher Award.

Larry has assigned more than 30,000 grades and has now taught over 23,000 students, representing more than 10 percent of UW’s alumni. Over the past 30 years, he has offered career guidance to several thousand students and alumni across the widest range of occupations. 

He has also served as a consultant to a wide range of public and private clients, including educational institutions, federal, provincial and municipal governments and private sector companies in the financial, real estate, manufacturing and construction industries, among others.

Larry also advises UW students who start their own ventures. He has now worked with more than 500 teams of student entrepreneurs. Many have gone on to create companies of significant size and success.

Larry’s video Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career, posted on ted.com and YouTube, has been viewed more than six million times. His most recent book is No Fears, No Excuses: What You Need to Do to Have a Great Career.