Name: Smith, Art
Title: Executive Professor at the Global Energy Institute at the University of Houston
Texas A&M Class: 1971
Inducted: 2018
Art Smith was born in Memphis, TX, and raised in Rogers, TX. He played on a championship football team and was active in the school agriculture program. He graduated from Rogers High School in 1967 and immediately began summer school at Texas A&M University. Because his father was a banker and he was raised in the Blacklands, agricultural economics was a natural area of study for Art to pursue.
Art was offered an Opportunity Scholarship to attend Texas A&M. He also spent much of his time working his way through school. Art was a member of the Corps of Cadets, Singing Cadets, and the Agricultural Economics Club. In 1969, he represented the department as a member of the debate team at the national meetings of the American Agricultural Economics Association. Although Art was a member of the class of 1971, he graduated early with a B.S. in Agricultural Economics in 1970. He went on to complete a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics at Texas Tech University in 1971.
In 1971, soon after graduation from Texas Tech, Art joined the Peace Corps and worked as a researcher on a USAID project in El Salvador and Guatemala. He spent two years working and traveling in the region before returning to Texas A&M in 1974 as a research associate. While conducting market research and development studies for produce and meat, Art completed a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics (1978). He was hired by the USDA in Washington, D.C. in 1978 as an agricultural economist where he continued to conduct market research on produce. Art’s entry into the futures markets and trading came in 1979 as he took the position of Manager of New Products at the Chicago Board of Trade. His responsibilities propelled him into the New York Mercantile Exchange where he traded for ten years and held a number of positions. In 1981, Art was named Account Executive at Refco, Inc., and just a short year later, he was named Vice President Hedge & Floor Manager of Langham-Hill Petroleum. From 1985 to 1990, Art traded from the floor as a broker while serving as Governor of the NYMEX Board of Directors. He was Co-Chairman of the NYMEX Natural Gas Committee and Chairman of the Globalization Committee, directing the development of the Natural Gas (Henry Hub) futures contract and leading the research and development of electric trading platforms.
Art launched his journey back in Texas as an entrepreneur in 1990 with the creation of Top Dollar Grain. This subsidiary company stemmed from E. A. Smith Trading Company and managed six grain elevators in Central Texas with combined storage of over 4 million bushels, doing business until 1998. Continuing his consulting business, Art returned to New York in 2002 as a Consultant to the Chairman in the NYMEX and later went on to consult for U.S. Energy Services. Most recently, Art was named Chief Economist and Director of New Products, CIMA Energy LTD in Houston through 2014.
In the 1990s, Art was a frequent guest lecturer on the Texas A&M campus, discussing price analysis and the futures market. While continuing his consulting work, Art joined Texas A&M University in 2001 as an Executive Professor at the Mays School of Business. In the Finance department, he developed the energy risk management curriculum for graduate and undergraduate students, and also taught Energy Risk Management. He is currently an Executive Professor at the Global Energy Management Institute at the University of Houston. In 1988, his family endowed the Edwin A. & Ranene C. Smith Opportunity Award Scholarship, and they continue to assist Texas A&M students. Art enjoys being part of the community, including his time serving as a member of the Steamboat Springs Finance Committee, as well as sitting as an official and board member of the Rocky Mountain Freestyle Association.
Art and his wife Ranene live on Lake Travis in Austin, TX. They have two children, Ean & Adam, as well as two grandchildren.
