Howard Alan Smith is a senior astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, and is the former chair of the astronomy department at Smithsonian InstitutionâÂÂs National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
A research scientist with several hundred scholarly publications, he served as a visiting astronomer at NASA headquarters. He was co-investigator of Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) discovery of a stellar laser at MWC 349.
Active in public education, he has been recognized by Harvard for excellence in teaching. He is a traditional, observant Jew, and has lectured on cosmology and Kabbalah for over twenty years.
He taught a cosmology telecourse for Our Learning Company.