David A. Smith was a teacher first and foremost, who happened also to be an internationally-respected scholar, renowned for his knowledge of interfaces and his mastery of the electron microscope.
David was educated in the U.K., taking his B.A., M.A. and PhD in Metallurgy at Cambridge University, where he learned of the power of high-resolution imaging techniques to study the atomic nature of interfaces. In 1968 he took his skills to Oxford University where he first spent time in the classroom, while at the same time publishing enough papers to rise to a faculty position. However, David felt that the ivory tower was not a place to spend all of one's career and forsook the comfort of his tenured post at Oxford for an appointment at IBM in 1979. During his time at the T.J. Watson Laboratory, his considerable scholarly and interpersonal gifts saw him rise through several managerial positions, while still publishing at a fearsome rate. He received an IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award in 1987 and still found time to teach whenever possible. He returned to academe in 1992, when he was appointed Wesley J. Howe distinguished professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. He moved to Lehigh University in 1995 as Director of the Lehigh University Center for Imaging and Analysis. At Lehigh he indulged his love of teaching to the full, with regular forays into the freshman and sophomore engineering classroom and with almost weekly tours of the electron microscope facility for high-school and middle-schools students. At the same time he started rebuilding his research group so he could continue his many contributions to the science of interfaces, already immense with over 250 publications, two books, several conference proceedings and four patents.
David's death leaves a gap in the field of interface research that will not be filled easily. His fellowship of the American Physical Society and ASM International and his membership on the Editorial Board of INTERFACE SCIENCE from its inception reflect the respect of his many colleagues. But David had many more friends than colleagues, because he had a natural way of involving you in his conversations---both academic and casual, that made you immediately warm to him. His almost constant use of the classic British understatement could mislead you into believing there was no passion in him--if you didn't listen closely. In his last class to Lehigh seniors, his opening words were "I have a very limited research field--polycrystalline materials".
'Smith' is the most common name in David's beloved English language--the ancient name for 'a worker in metals'. There's probably no better description for David than "Smith". But he wasn't an ordinary Smith, or a mere blacksmith. He was a molder of minds, he shaped his students in his own form, he could craft the finely tuned theory, fashion the critical question and forge new knowledge with his sharp intellect.
My enduring memories of David will be at his office desk, the door always open and the student in the office being 'Smithed' into shape by being encouraged to think first, to ask questions second and to act only when the problem is defined.
"Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith" wrote Appius Claudius Caecus in 290 BC. But David A. Smith was not to be so easily hidden and his contributions to the field of interfaces will remain visible for many years to come.