Dr. John Alexander Smith is a chartered architect and educator based in Dubai. In this context he authored the recently accredited academic programs in Architecture and Interior Design at the Canadian University of Dubai and their counterparts at the American University in Dubai where he is a full professor of architecture and interior design. He consults to leading international design practices based in Dubai. Professor Alexander Smith has been a chartered architect for twenty-nine years. Since 1997 he has been external examiner to the Ph.D. program in Architecture, Urban Planning and Design at Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, in the UK.

After qualifying as an architect he worked extensively in the Middle East: in Oman as a resident project architect, in Iran as the principal of an architectural and interior design practice, and in the United Arab Emirates as one of Dubai’s leading educators and built environment specialists. In this latter context he has been interviewed by various Dubai based and international media, published many articles and is contributing chapters to books dealing with the Urban History and Architecture of Dubai.

Dr. Alexander Smith has been a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects since 1980 and in 2005 at the American University initiated the inaugural meetings of the Association of Professional Interior Designers here in Dubai, of which he is the serving Vice-President. Between these years he has been elected a Fellow of several learned bodies including the Royal Society of Arts in London.

He is an authority on Islamic Architecture and Landscape Garden Design, is in demand as an expert on Dubai’s urban planning and architecture, has been a guest editor of 2A Architecture and Art magazine (the only architectural quarterly published in Dubai), and has lectured extensively in the major continents at many leading universities and learned societies.