Mr. Smith was born in Columbia, South Carolina where he resided most of his life except for brief stints in Connecticut.  He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1932 and the year thereafter a Masters in Electrical Engineering, both from the University of South Carolina.

After going with the South Carolina Highway Department he took graduate instruction from the Harvard University Bureau of Street Highway Traffic, receiving his certificate therein 1937.  Mr. Smith was registered in every state in the United States as well as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong.

He was the first Traffic Engineer of South Carolina as the division.  During the first year the staff increased to nine people!  He served as Director of the Traffic Engineering Department for South Carolina until 1943 when he took on several jobs at once advising both Clemson University and the University of South Carolina on traffic engineering on a part time basis as a faculty member.  He was also a coordinator of traffic studies to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a consultant on transportation to the Office of Civil Defense as well as being Associate Director and a faculty member on the Yale University's Bureau of Highway Traffic.

Mr. Smith set up his consulting firm, Wilbur Smith & Associates in 1952 as President and in 1972 assumed the new additional position of Chairman of the Board.  From 1976 on he had been Chairman of the Board for Wilbur Smith & Associates.  The Smith firm consisted of about 450 full time employees with many permanent United States officers and international officers in the Far East, Australia, and Jordan.

Mr.  Smith was a member of almost every transportation body in the United States, including the Eno Foundation for Transportation where he was Chairman of the Board, National Academy of Engineering, American Road and Transportation Builders Association where is was a former President, South Carolina Safety Council, member of the Board of Directors for the Transportation Association of America, and Member of the Board for Highway Users Federation for Safety and Mobility.  Mr. Smith was also a member of many professional and technical associations and was a prolific author.  He received honorary Doctors Degrees from the University of South Carolina in 1963 and Lander College in 1975.  He was a member of the "Who's Who's" and received the Theodore M. Matson Memorial Award in 1965 and the Burton W. Marsh Award in 1982.