I am a Professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University, where I have been a faculty member since 1994. From 2011 to 2020, I served as Director of the Master of Digital Media Program at the Centre for Digital Media (Great Northern Way Campus). I directed SFU’s Centre for Policy Research on Science & Technology (CPROST) for nearly two decades.

My research focuses on communication and collaboration networks in IT innovation, technology futures methodologies, digital scholarly publishing, and innovation clusters. I am co-author of New Media: An Introduction (Oxford University Press), now in its fourth edition, which has become a foundational text in the field.

In 2020, I was appointed Chevalier of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French government in recognition of contributions to education and culture.

Current Projects

From Tool to Actor: Artificial Intelligence and Human Extinction Risk William Leiss & Richard Smith, forthcoming from McGill-Queen’s University Press (Fall 2026).

The book presents a comprehensive analysis of the impending transition of artificial intelligence from a passive tool to an autonomous actor. We argue that while current AI provides significant benefits in medicine and science, the rapid pursuit of superintelligence poses an absolute risk of human extinction — and that existing government regulations are structurally inadequate because they treat AI as a controllable product rather than an adaptive, deceptive entity.

Selected Publications

  • New Media: An Introduction (4th ed.) — Flew, T. & Smith, R. — Oxford University Press, 2021
  • Mobile and Wireless Communications: An Introduction — Gow, G. & Smith, R. — McGraw-Hill, 2006
  • A Tower Under Siege: Technology, Policy and the Future of the CBC — Lewis, P., Massey, B. & Smith, R. — McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2001
  • Women, Work and Computerization: Charting a Course to the Future — Balka, E. & Smith, R. (eds.) — Kluwer Academic, 2000

Full CV (PDF) · Narrative CV (PDF)

Contact

Email: [email protected] Google Scholar: View profile Office: School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby BC V5A 1S6, Canada