Professor Laura Ellyn Smith is a presidential historian. She graduated with a Ph.D. in History from the University of Mississippi. Her thesis was entitled “Populism and Democratization in the Presidential Election of 1832.” She gained a Distinction in her MA in U.S. History and Politics at University College London, where she was awarded the Americas Excellence Award. She graduated with First Class Honors for her BA in American Studies with a Year Abroad from the University of Leicester.
She is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor teaching the American Presidency at Richmond, The American International University in London. She is also teaching American Race Relations and Politics at Canterbury Christ Church University, while pursuing a second doctorate – a DPhil in History analyzing the US imperial presidency at Oxford University, St. Anne’s College.