Steven Rathgeb Smith returned to the Evans School in September 2011, having taught at Georgetown University since September 2009. He previously taught at the Evans School of Public Affairs from 1996-2009. Smith has also taught at Duke University and Washington University at St. Louis. His teaching and research interests include nonprofit organizations, nonprofit and public management, public policy, comparative social policy, and social services.

His publications include Government and Regulation in the Third Sector (Routledge, 2010); Old Assumptions, New Realities: Economic Security for the 21st Century Working Families (Russell Sage, 2010); Nonprofits for Hire: The Welfare State in the Age of Contracting (Harvard University Press, 1993), Public Policy for Democracy (Brookings, 1993), and Adjusting the Balance: Federal Policy and Victim Service (Greenwood, 1988). His current research focuses on the regional variation in foundations in the United States, accountability and performance management in nonprofit organizations, and comparative research on nonprofit organizations in social services.

Smith served as president of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) and editor of ARNOVA's journal, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ) from 1998-2004.

Smith holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and an A. B. degree from Brown University.