- Born
- Birth nameRobert Frederick Smith
- Entrepreneur, philanthropist and chemical engineer Robert F. Smith was born in Denver, Colorado, on December 1, 1962 to William Robert and Sylvia Myrna Smith. When he was 8 months old in 1963, Smith took part in the March for Freedom in Washington, D.C. while in his mother's arms.
Aside from being the founding director and President of Fund II Foundation, Smith is a diversity advocate and innovative thinker, who envisions an equitable future in business and learning. The Fund II Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Austin, Texas, working across the United States to support African American cultural institutions, music and STEM education for minorities and the American dream of innovation.
The founder of Vista Equity Partners, who serves as Chairman and CEO, Smith gave the now famous Morehouse College commencement address freeing the Morehouse Class of 2019 from student loan debt. Smith settled approximately $34 million in cumulative debt accrued by students and the families of students. His gift also sparked the idea for the Student Freedom Initiative, an income-contingent finance alternative for students at minority serving institutions and HBCUs.
Smith's early life was steeped in the struggle for civil rights, which made accepting the Ripple of Hope Award from Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights in 2010 a great honor. Forbes included Smith in its list of the Greatest Living Business Minds in 2017. He was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy and also inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 2019. In recognition for his ideas and ideals, Smith was included in Time Magazine's TIME100 list of the most influential people in 2020.
Smith has been a financial partner to Deon Taylor at Hidden Empire Film Group for over a decade. He is an executive producer on Freedom Riders, a film in development based on the first-hand accounts of the original Riders, featuring the story of Georgia's former U.S. Congressman in the House Representatives, John Lewis.- IMDb Mini Biography By: NikkA - Entrepreneur, philanthropist and chemical engineer Robert F. Smith was born in Denver, Colorado, on December 1, 1962 to William Robert and Sylvia Myrna Smith. When he was 8 months old in 1963, Smith took part in the March for Freedom in Washington, D.C. while in his mother's arms.
Aside from being the founding director and President of Fund II Foundation, Smith is a diversity advocate and innovative thinker, who envisions an equitable future in business and learning. The Fund II Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Austin, Texas, working across the United States to support African American cultural institutions, music and STEM education for minorities and the American dream of innovation.
The founder of Vista Equity Partners, who serves as Chairman and CEO, Smith gave the now famous Morehouse College commencement address freeing the Morehouse Class of 2019 from student loan debt. Smith settled approximately $34 million in cumulative debt accrued by students and the families of students. His gift also sparked the idea for the Student Freedom Initiative, an income-contingent finance alternative for students at minority serving institutions and HBCUs. Now, students attending participating institutions can be financially assisted and relieved from the burden of debt that comes along with student loans.
Smith's early life was steeped in the struggle for civil rights, which made accepting the Ripple of Hope Award from Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights in 2010 a great honor. Forbes included Smith in its list of the Greatest Living Business Minds in 2017. He was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy and also inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame in 2019. In recognition for his ideas and ideals, Smith was awarded Forbes Diversity & Inclusion Award in 2020 regarding his plans for improving racial equality with The 2% Solution and also included in Time Magazine's TIME100 list of the most influential people in 2020.
Smith has been a financial partner to Deon Taylor at Hidden Empire Film Group for over a decade. He is an executive producer on Freedom Riders, a film in development based on the first-hand accounts of the original Riders, featuring the story of Georgia's former U.S. Congressman in the House Representatives, John Lewis.- IMDb Mini Biography By: NikkA
- SpousesHope Dworaczyk Smith(July 25, 2015 - present)Suzanne McFayden(1988 - 2014)
- Smith is an Honorary Ranger. The title was bestowed by the National Park Foundation in 2018 to recognize his history of aiding in the preservation of African American history and culture at national parks.
- [Firsts] In 2017, Smith was the first African American to sign the Giving Pledge. In 2016, Smith became the first African American to be elected Chairman of Carnegie Hall.
- Both of Smith's parents were educators and earned doctorate degrees in education.
- Smith became a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha at Cornell University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1985.
- When he was a young man, Smith imagined that becoming a chemical engineer seemed like the closest thing to being a modern-day alchemist.
- [2017 Giving Pledge] We will only grasp the staggering potential of our time if we create onramps that empower ALL people to participate, regardless of background, country of origin, religious practice, gender, or color of skin.
- [2019 Morehouse Commencement Address] Where you live shouldn't determine whether you get educated. Where you go to school shouldn't determine whether you get textbooks. The opportunity you access should be determined by the fierceness of your intellect, the courage in your creativity and the grit that allows you to overcome expectations that weren't set high enough.
- [2019 Morehouse Commencement Address] You must become a community builder. You don't want to just be on the bus. You want to own it and drive it and pick up as many people as you can.
- [2019 Morehouse Commencement Address] When Dr. King said that the 'arc of the moral universe bends toward justice,' he wasn't saying it bends on its own accord. It bends because we choose to put our shoulders into it together and push. Technology is creating a whole new set of on ramps to the 21st century economy, and together we well help assure that African Americans will acquire the tech skills and be the beneficiaries in sectors that are being automated.
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