A prominent leader in higher education, Joshua Smith was a professor and director of the Program in Higher Education and Center for Urban Community College Leadership, School of Education, New York University until 2000. In 2002, he was appointed Emeritus Professor of Higher Education. Dr. Smith has served as chancellor of the California Community Colleges, president of the Borough of Manhattan Community College of the City University of New York, dean of the School of Education for the City College of New York, and president of Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey. He was also a program officer for the Ford Foundation in the development of new educational administrative programs at top universities across the country.

Dr. Smith has been chairman of the board of directors for the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, president and chairman of the board of the National Humanities Faculty, and an active participant in the American Association of School Administrators. He served as a captain in the United States Air Force.