Neil Smith received the S.B. degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, in 1977, and the Ph.D. degree in physics, also from MIT, in 1983.

He joined the Eastman Kodak Company in 1984 and worked in the Magnetic Heads Division of Kodak Research Labs, San Diego, CA, until 1998. His work there primarily involved the physics of magnetic recording of magnetic tape heads and systems, with particular emphasis on the development of magnetoresistive read heads and very high sensitivity anisotropic and giant magnetoresistance magnetic field sensors. In 1998 he joined the IBM corporation, working in the Recording Heads Group at the IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA. At IBM he has concentrated on both write and read head technology for hard-disk drives, including research on the basic physical and technological limits of read heads for ultra-high disk storage densities. He has recently conducted some of the first investigations into fundamental signal-to-noise limits of magnetoresistive read heads due to thermally induced magnetization fluctuations.