Dr. Smith, a native of Brooklyn, New York, is a
product of Christian education. He is the son of
Christian parents, and his father was in the Seventh-day
Adventist gospel ministry.Dr. Smith is a graduate of Oakwood University, formerly Oakwood College, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology and Biblical Languages. He received his Master of Divinity degree from Andrews University Theological Seminary in 1982. Dr. Smith earned two doctoral degrees.
In 1985, the Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, New York, conferred the Doctor of Ministry degree upon him. In 1995, he graduated with a Ph.D. in Psychology from the Fuller Graduate School of Psychology in Pasadena, California.
Dr. Smith has served in the Seventh-day Adventist gospel ministry for 30 years, including work in the Northeastern and Southern California conferences.
Among the various pastoral assignments he executed, he served as Senior Pastor of the Berean Church in Los Angeles, California, and the Ephesus Church in Harlem, New York. Dr. Smith is a registered clinical psychologist and a marital and family therapist.
He served for eight years at the post of Vice President of the Review and Herald Publishing Association and Editor-in-Chief of Message magazine, the oldest Black missionary Christian lifestyle periodical in North America.
Dr. Smith currently is the Executive Secretary of the Southern Union Conference. He has been married to Yolanda for 30 years. They have two children, Dawn and Ron II, who are graduates of Oakwood University.
Ron II is a pastor in the Southeastern Conference and is completing his M.Div. degree at Andrews University.