A Utah County native, L. Douglas Smoot is dean emeritus of the College of Engineering and Technology, professor of chemical engineering, and founding director of the Advanced Combustion Engineering Research Center at Brigham Young University. He holds the Abraham O. Smoot professorship at the University. He is also a worldwide consultant in combustion, energy and propulsion. Tall, lean, born redheaded, personable, and energetic, Dr. Smoot has received numerous awards for his basketball, tennis, and racquetball skills. He and his wife, Marian Bird, have four daughters, fifteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Professor Smoot started at BYU in 1952 and he will retire from 43 years of full time BYU service in December 2002. Professor Smoot graduated with highest honors from BYU in 1957 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1960. He then spent three years at BYU before moving to California, where he worked for Lockheed and was also a visiting assistant professor at the California Institute of Technology. For seven years he was chair of the Chemical Engineering Department and served nearly 18 years as dean of Engineering and Technology. Dr. Smoot has served in the Church as a bishop, stake president, and member of the Fifth Quorum of the Seventy.

He has been project director at BYU on industrial and government research projects totaling more than $40 million. He has published 200 technical articles, eight invited review articles, and four books on combustion. In 1985 he was named the Distinguished Faculty Lecturer and received the University's Presidential Award. He received the first Governor's Medal for Science and Technology in Utah in 1987, and the Homer H. Lowry Award from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2002.

He has consulted with over 50 organizations, served as an expert witness, been on the boards of an international journal and also the International Combustion Institute. Dr. Smoot has served on the Governor's Advisory Board in Science and Technology and the scientific advisory council of the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment. Professor Smoot led the B.Y. Academy Foundation's efforts to preserve the historic Brigham Young Academy Building, (1995-2002). He also currently serves on Provo City's Energy Board and on its Economic Development Board.