Robert H. Smith (philanthropist)


Robert Hilton Smith was an American builder-developer and philanthropist. After taking over his father's real estate development business, Smith developed much of the Crystal City neighborhood, just south of Washington, D.C.

Early life and education

Smith was born to a Jewish family, the son of Leah and Charles E. Smith. His father was a Jewish immigrant from Russia who founded the Charles E. Smith Companies in 1946. The company grew to become one of the largest commercial and residential landlords in the Washington, D.C., area, managing of office space and more than 30,000 residential units. Smith graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Career

Robert and his brother-in-law, Robert P. Kogod, took control of Charles E. Smith Companies in 1967. Smith oversaw construction and development, and Kogod led leasing and management.
Starting in the early 1960s, Smith developed the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, just south of Washington, DC, which at the time, Smith said "was very unattractive" but Smith saw that "there was an airport, there was The Pentagon, and that driving to D.C. was a pretty short distance". Smith attracted government leases by offering discounted rents that did not go up over time.
In 1988, an article in the Washington Post estimated his net worth to be $290 million.
In 1995, Forbes estimated the Smith family fortune to be worth $560 million.
In 2001, the residential division of the company was merged into Archstone, which was sold to Equity Residential and Avalon Bay in 2013. The commercial division of the company was merged into Vornado Realty Trust, which merged the division into JBG Smith in 2017.

Philanthropy

Education and research

Smith gave a total of approximately $100 million to the University of Maryland, College Park, his alma mater, including $30 million each to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, completed in 2001 and named after his wife, Clarice Smith, and the business school, Robert H. Smith School of Business, which was named after him in 1998.
The Kogod School of Business at the American University in Washington, DC, is named after Robert P. Kogod, brother-in-law of Robert H. Smith.
The Charles E. Smith Athletic Center at George Washington University is named in his father's honor.
Smith's contributions to Johns Hopkins Hospital allowed for the construction of a new research and surgical building for the Wilmer Eye Institute.

Historic preservation efforts

Smith's donations help fund the Robert H. & Clarice Smith Auditorium at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens.
Smith donated to fund the visitor's center at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation renamed its International Center for Jefferson Studies the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies after Smith endowed the Center in 2004.
In 2008, Smith donated $7 million of the $15 million cost to renovate President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home.
On November 3, 2007, the National Society of Madison Family Descendants awarded the Madison Family Cup to Robert H. Smith for his extraordinary contributions to James Madison’s legacy and the preservation and development of Montpelier.
Smith collected European paintings before donating his collection to the National Gallery of Art. Smith served as President of the gallery between 1993 and 2003, during which the museum expanded significantly.

Jewish causes

Smith's family also gave charitably to several Jewish communal causes in the greater Washington, DC, area, including the Charles E. Smith Life Communities, a senior housing and elder care campus in Rockville, Maryland, and the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, also in Rockville. Both organizations are named for Smith's father.
He served as chairman of the board of governors at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1981 to 1985 and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in 1984. He served as president of the Washington D.C. chapter of the American Friends of the Hebrew University.

National Humanities Medal

In 2008, President George W. Bush awarded Smith with the National Humanities Medal.

Personal life

In 1952, Smith married artist Clarice Smith, née Chasen. They had three children, Michelle and David, and Stephen.. They resided in Crystal City, Virginia until his death of a stroke in December 2009. Services were held at Adas Israel Congregation in Cleveland Park, DC.