Dr. Fred Smith Research and Visiting Scholars Awards

Fred Smith was born in 1911 into a third-generation coal miner’s family in the Midlands of England—the youngest of seven children. Brilliant from the start, innately curious and with an inventive mind, Fred grew to become a world-class scientist, rising from working class, stratified, post-Victorian England through determination, an immense capacity for sustained work and a great urge to excel.

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Fred won a coal miner’s union sponsored, countrywide scholarship to attend Birmingham University in 1929. Earning three degrees, he spearheaded the research team under Sir Norman Haworth that later won Haworth the Nobel Price in chemistry for synthesizing Vitamin C. In 1944 Dr. Smith was one of a small number of scientists appointed by the British government to be a consultant to the Manhattan project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

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From 1948-1965 Fred Smith was a renowned professor of Biochemistry at the University of Minnesota specializing in carbohydrate chemistry, until his untimely death on February 1, 1965.

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In 1957 he made his greatest discovery, one that would totally transform his life and the lives of many others. Lightly churched in a small village chapel in his home village of Bagworth, and totally immersed in the scientific community, he dedicated his life to “the business of intellectual activity.” He was convinced that “if we could get enough intelligent people together, the problems of the world could be solved, including personal problems.” This approach however left him still searching for answers to life’s biggest questions.

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To his utter amazement, he discovered the person of Jesus Christ presented to him and his wife, Kate , at a Billy Graham crusade. Graham spoke that night about Nicodemus in the gospel of John, who came to Jesus by night asking ultimate questions. Fred saw himself in this story—going by night, curious yet not wanting his professional colleagues to know of his search. Dr. Smith made a decision—a leap of faith—seemingly incompatible with his long held scientific proof-oriented approach for all of life. But in fact, he decided to do what he had always done—conduct an experiment. He would treat the claims of Jesus as a life experiment and he discovered a peace of mind and a freedom from fear he had never known. Deep and abiding faith in God’s unchangeable Word engulfed him.

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In the seven years he lived after this decision to follow Jesus Christ, Dr. Smith spoke to everyone he could about this reality-changing person to whom he had entrusted his life. A colleague remarked that Dr. Smith had an integrity and constancy about him that was unique. “He was the same person whether lecturing, drinking tea, or gardening, as opposed to others.” Adding, “I had never known someone who reflected honor on the name of Christian in the manner Fred did.”