John was born in Tucker, GA (USA).  He attended the University of Georgia, where he received the DVM in 1975, an MS in Medical Microbiology in 1983, and the MAM in 1991.  He completed an internship at Auburn University (1977-79) and a residency in large animal internal medicine at the University of Georgia (1979-82).  John is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (large animal) and the American College of Poultry Veterinarians.

He served in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps (1975-77), and taught ruminant medicine at Auburn University (1982-84) and Colorado State University (1984-89) prior to entering the poultry industry.  After completing the MAM, he was the Director of Health Services at Fieldale Farms Corporation from 1991-2015, and continues part time as the Senior Health Services Advisor.

John has been an active contributor to organized poultry medicine via the AVMA, where he served on the Animal Agriculture Liaison Committee, which he also chaired, and the Convention Management and Program Committee; the AAAP, where he has chaired the Awards Committee, the Research Priorities Committee, and the Scientific Program Committee, and will be President for 2017-18; the Association of Veterinarians in Broiler Production, where he was President in 1995-96; the National Chicken Council, where he chaired the Poultry Health Committee in 1996 and the Animal Welfare Committee in 1998; the U. S. Animal Health Association, where he was Vice Chair (1999-2003) and Chair (2003-2008) of the Committee on Transmissible Diseases of Poultry; the US Poultry and Egg Association, where he served on the Foundation Research Advisory Committee for 16 years, chairing it for 9 years; the National Poultry Improvement Plan; the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association; and the Poultry Science Association.  He has also been a frequent contributor to continuing education programs, making over 90 presentations at AAAP, USPEA, ACPV seminars, the National Meeting on Poultry Health and Processing, and other venues since 1990, based on his field experiences with a variety of diseases such as Infectious Bronchitis Virus, Runting-Stunting Syndrome, and antibiotic-free production.  He has hosted dozens of veterinary interns from all over the US.  John is the recipient of the USPEA Lamplighter Award, the AAAP Lasher-Bottorff Award, the AAAP Special Service Award, and the USPEA Workhorse of the Year Award.  The John A. Smith Lecture in Clinical Poultry Medicine was inaugurated at the Emerald Coast Veterinary Conference in 2016.

John has been married to Emily for 35 years.  In his spare time he enjoys keeping bees, sporting clays, spoiling the dogs, and playing with his tractor on his hay farm.