William "Bill" L. Smith (1902-1983) worked in the aviation industry.

William Lawrence Smith was born on January 31, 1902 in Midvale, New Jersey to William Hill and Ada (Monks) Smith. He attended Central High School in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1918 at age 16, he left high school and joined the Engineering Department of Western Electric Company (later Bell Telephone Laboratories) in New York City. The company provided student training courses and Smith took classes in engineering, accounting, business administration, and law. Smith remained with WEC for twenty-two years in different divisions, including the General Commercial Engineers Department, and a variety of positions, including Contract Engineer, Merchandise Superintendent, and Pacific Coast Representative. Many of his positions involved work with United States Army and Navy contracts, including accompanying a Navy fleet on maneuvers in 1936 to observe and report on new ultra-high frequency equipment being tested by the Navy. He also worked on the radio equipment for several notable aviators, such as Jimmy Doolittle, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, and Wiley Post.

In 1939, Smith was granted a leave of absence from WEC to assist in organizing the British War Commission. He was appointed as Director of Air Purchases. He returned to WEC at the start of the lend-lease program in 1941, but left soon after to accept a position with Brewster Aeronautical Corporation as the Vice President of Material and Production Control Divisions. He resigned in 1942 and joined Remington Rand as Director of Procurement for their propeller plant in Binghamton, New York, where he eventually became Vice President, General Manager, and Director of Andover Kent Aviation Corporation, a subsidiary of Remington Rand.

Shortly after the war's end, Smith resigned to focus on patent work. In early 1951 he joined the Aircraft Industries Association of America (AIAA) as Assistant Director of the Industry Planning Service. He remained there until late 1953, when he was appointed General Manager of the Speed Control Division. In 1957, Smith relocated to the West Coast to become Manager of Sales for Hughes Aircraft Company, but left in 1958 to join Stauffer Laboratories as a Director of Materials. In 1960 he joined the Aeronutronic Division of Philco-Ford Corporation as a senior buyer, where he remained until his retirement in 1967.

Smith married Helen Longanecker (1902-1988) on November 1, 1923 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The couple had a daughter, Betty. Smith died on March 27, 1983 in Sun City, California.

Biography derived from collection materials, donor information, and records on Ancestry.com.