Professor and Chair of Chemistry Thomas Smith ’88 will serve as the next director of the Williams-Exeter Programme at Oxford (WEPO), President Maud S. Mandel announced in an all-campus email last Friday. He will succeed Professor of Political Science Sam Crane, who has held the position since July 2024.
Smith’s two-year term as director will begin July 1, 2026, as Crane concludes his term and returns to the College.
As director, Smith will serve as the primary academic and personal advisor to the 26 juniors who attend the program each year. At Oxford, he will hold the dual titles of director of WEPO and supernumerary fellow of Exeter College, a position for senior members of the college’s faculty. Additionally, Smith will work with students and Oxford instructors to arrange students’ tutorials and will reside at the director’s house within the WEPO compound.
During his 27 years at the College, Smith has taught introductory organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry, and the evolution of human medicine.
Last year, Smith won the College’s Nelson Bushnell Class of 1920 Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
In tandem with his teaching, Smith is a prolific researcher. His lab at the College focuses on organic synthesis and most recently the efficient synthesis of enigmazole A, a compound with potential anticancer activity.
“There are a lot of puzzles [in organic synthesis], and I like the puzzles,” he said in an interview with the Record. “There’s also a creative aspect of it, of building new molecules and things that nobody’s made before, and I love both of those things.”
Smith currently serves as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Integrity and has served on the Faculty Steering Committee, Science Executive Committee, and the Committee on Appointments and Promotions, according to Mandel’s email. Since 2009, he has also served as the faculty affiliate for the softball team.
Smith said he is excited to get to know the members of future WEPO cohorts in his new role.“Williams students are amazing,” he said. “I see the ones who self-select for science or are pre-med …but the other students that I’ve met [are] fascinating in other ways. I love learning new things, and I don’t know much about economics or art history or English… But I love hearing people talk about those things.”
Smith observed that, in the past, the program has had a reputation of being geared more towards humanities students. He said he hopes to make WEPO more accessible to students in STEM fields. “I think it would make a lot of sense for me to speak to the chairs of the other STEM departments and programs, and just say, ‘Hey, is there anything we can do?’” he said. “What are the structural things that are making this more difficult, and can we ease that up somehow?”
Smith said that, although serving as director of WEPO would mean taking a break from his lab, it would still enrich his scholarship. “That’s precious time to be able to think about what I am doing and why,” he said. “This might be an opportunity to go in some different directions. For me, that’s probably picking a different kind of target molecule to synthesize, and maybe different sorts of methods to work on.”
