Robert Smith enters his second year as the Director of Sports Medicine and his ninth year as a part of the athletic training staff at the University of Chicago in the 2025-26 academic year.
Smith is the primary athletic trainer for men’s soccer, women’s basketball, and softball. He also works as a physician extender in the UChicago Student Wellness Center.
Smith graduated from Lewis University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in athletic training. He managed to have an internship at the University of Illinois at Chicago working with their gymnastics and softball programs. He went on to graduate from North Central College with a Master’s degree in leadership studies with a concentration in sport in the Spring of 2017. His capstone project included sustainability and the current status of practicing green techniques in healthcare and athletic training. While at North Central College, he also served as a preceptor to undergraduate students and worked with cross country, wrestling, baseball, football, and track and field.
Smith is also a Certified Sport Nutrition Coach through NASM and helps to provide nutrition counseling, education, and programming to the student-athletes at UChicago. He is also a Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES), and a Graston Technique Specialist (GTS).
In the Fall of 2022, Robert was named the recipient of the Marlene Richman Award, which is presented to a Campus Student-Life member who serves students with extraordinary commitment to care, communication, time, responsiveness, and respect. He is the first winner of this award to have come from the athletics department
