Gregory D. Smith joined the department in January 2005 as the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Conservation Science. Before coming to Buffalo, Dr. Smith held the post of Samuel Golden Research Fellow for two years at the National Gallery of Art.  Prior to his position at the Gallery, he also held postdoctoral research fellowships at the National Synchrotron Light Source and at University College London where he worked primarily with artifacts from the British Library and the Victoria & Albert Museum.  Dr. Smith has been the recipient of a Marshall-Sherfield Postdoctoral Fellowship and a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, as well as Howard-Hughes, Barry Goldwater, and NSF Undergraduate Fellowships.

Dr. Smith’s current research focus is modern artists’ materials, in particular acrylic emulsion paints, their formulations, and means of identification and characterization.  His ongoing research projects include investigating the potential extraction of acrylic emulsion paint additives during aqueous cleaning treatments and issues related to the adhesion of waterborne coatings when used in mixed media with oil paints.  These projects are being pursued in collaboration with conservation and coatings scientists and conservators at the National Gallery of Art (Washington), the Tate Gallery (London) , The Getty Conservation Institute (Los Angeles), and Golden Artist Colors (New Berlin, NY).

Dr. Smith lectures on analytical techniques and the chemistry of polymeric materials used in art and conservation.  He maintains three teaching and research laboratories and a complement of microscopy, metallographic, spectroscopic, chromatographic, and thermal analysis instrumentation.

Recent Publications:
Smith, G. D. "Infrared Microscopy Using a Synchrotron Source for Arts-Science Research." Journal of the American Institute of Conservation, 2003, 42, 399-406.

Smith, G. D.; Clark, R. J. H. "Raman Microscopy in Archaeological Science." Journal of Archaeological Science, 2004, 31, 1137-1160.

van de Weerd, J.; Smith, G. D.; Clark, R. J. H. “Identification of Black Pigments on Prehistoric Southwest American Potsherds by Infrared and Raman Microscopy.” Journal of Archaeological Science, 2004, 31, 1429-1437.

Burgio, L; Clark, R. J. H.; Sheldon, L.; Smith, G. D. “Pigment Identification by Spectroscopic Means: Evidence for the Authenticity of the Painting Young Woman Seated at a Virginal as the 36th Vermeer Painting” Analytical Chemistry, 2005, 77, 1261-1267.

Chaplin, T. D.; Clark, R. J. H.; Jacobs, D.; Jensen, K.; Smith, G. D. “The Gutenberg Bibles: Analysis of the Illuminations and Inks Using Raman Spectroscopy” Analytical Chemistry, 2005, 77, 3611-3622. Click here for a web version of the article.

Smith, G. D. “A ‘Single Shot’ Separation and Identification Technique for Water Extractable Additives in Acrylic Emulsion Paints” in Preprints of the 14th Triennial Meeting of the ICOM Conservation Committee, Vol. 2, International Council of Museums: The Hague, 2005, 824-832