Adam Smith is the Edward Orsborn Professor of United States Politics & Political History, a Professorial Fellow at University College, and Director of the RAI. He was a student at Oxford, Sheffield, Cambridge, and Harvard, and for 17 years taught at University College London (UCL). Adam’s area of expertise is the political history of the United States in the 19th century. He regularly presents documentaries—mainly on BBC Radio 4—and writes for various magazines and websites. His latest book, The Stormy Present: Conservatism and the Problem of Slavery in Northern Politics, 1846-1865, won the Jefferson Davis Award and was a finalist for the Lincoln Prize. Previous books include No Party Now: Politics in the Civil War North. (You can read more about Adam’s publications here.) Adam takes a close interest in education policy, especially university admissions and school history teaching. He is former Honorary Secretary of the Royal Historical Society, which represents scholarly historians in the UK and in 2019 he joined the board of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission, which awards scholarships to US students wishing to study in the UK. Adam was born in the Northeast of England and went to Durham Johnston Comprehensive School. He now lives in Oxford with his wife and three daughters.
