Kirk R. Smith
Tyler Prize Laureate 2012
Quick Facts
Born: January 19, 1947, Berkeley, California, United States
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of California, Berkeley
Environmental achievement recognized: Recognized for his pioneering work at the intersection of environmental science and global public health, including establishing that indoor air pollution in the rural sectors of developing countries outweighs outdoor air pollution in cities as a global health hazard.
Get to know Kirk R. Smith
Meet the
Kirk Smith’s monumental work on air pollution and human health profoundly changed global environmental health and revolutionized international policies. His work to quantify the cost of household air pollution, which results in two million premature deaths annually, most in vulnerable populations, led to a sea change in global health. His research, which revealed the link between biomass fuels and acute respiratory and other illnesses, galvanized the search for cleaner, cost-efficient technologies. Smith, who developed critical measuring tools through the course of his career, was quick to emphasize the "co-benefits" of finding cleaner energy solutions for both humans and the environment. His life and work have had an immense impact on both national and international health policies.
