 Smith was a prominent member of a group of pharmacists that in 1821 established the 
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (now 
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia) the first college of pharmacy in the country, was 
elected vice-president in 1828, and from 1829 to 1854 served as president.In 1852, he became the first president of the American Pharmaceutical Association.In 1824, Smith married Esther Morton, daughter of John Morton, a prominent Philadelphia merchant
and banker, and his second wife, Mary Robinson of Newport, RI.