Arthur Allen Smith was born August 29, 1884 in Roseville, Illinois. He received his B.Di. in 1904 and M. Di 1905 at the Iowa State Teachers College. He received his B.S. degree at the State University of Iowa in 1915 and the C.E. degree in 1920. As a student at SUI, he was a member of Sigma Xi. He married Floy Graham and the couple had a daughter, Ruthelaine, born in 1915.

Smith was working as superintendent of buildings in the Garfield, Iowa, school building in January 1922. He was employed there by the Des Moines School Board to oversee construction of a project, not yet completed, when he and J. M. Fisk of the SUI Buildings and Grounds Department began corresponding regarding Smith joining the staff at the State University of Iowa. He did join the SUI staff later in 1922 as the assistant superintendent of Grounds and Buildings. He was acting superintendent in charge of maintenance from 1932 to 1934 and was named superintendent from 1934 to 1941. Arthur Allen Smith died April 11, 1955.

Denise Anderson, March 2009