Smith, Ron

AMERICAN
FORENSIC SPECIALIST

Since 1972, Ron Smith has worked in both the government and private sectors as a forensic specialist, consultant, and trainer. He is recognized as an authority on friction ridge identification and palm print analysis, and is a certified latent print examiner. Smith also is known for the hundreds of seminars he has conducted on forensic science topics throughout the world. In addition, he has served as an expert witness in numerous criminal cases and has lectured extensively on courtroom testimony techniques.

Smith began his career in forensic identification in 1972, when he was hired by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C. He later held positions with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and the Mississippi Crime Laboratory, where he worked as assistant director. In these positions Smith did extensive fieldwork and research on the topics of friction ridge identification and palm print analysis. Because of this experience and knowledge, he has provided testimony in more than 500 criminal cases across the United States. He has also served as the primary courtroom testimony trainer for the Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers Training Academy and the primary expert witness trainer for the Mississippi Crime Laboratory.

For more than fifteen years, Smith has also taught hundreds of forensic workshops for organizations and universities throughout the United States and around the world. He has frequently spoken on the topics of courtroom testimony techniques, latent print examinations, forensic ridgeology, footwear impression comparison, and crime scene examinations. Smith has also been actively involved in the International Association for Identification (IAI). He serves on the board of directors and was awarded IAI's 2001 John A. Dondero Award for his contributions to the science of forensic identification.

After his retirement from the Mississippi Crime Laboratory in 2002, Smith opened his own forensic consulting and training company, Ron Smith and Associates, Inc. The company provides technical training and criminal investigation services to government agencies, private corporations, attorneys, and individuals. The company employs professional career forensic specialists located in different cities throughout the United States and Canada, in order to provide forensic services around the world.

see also Careers in forensic science; Expert witnesses.