Prior to joining the faculty at North Carolina Central University School of Law in 1979, Professor Smith was a Patent Advisor and Attorney Advisor for the United States Army. Smith has also served as counsel for Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco, California. He has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is a member of the American Arbitration Association, American Intellectual Property Law Association and the Panel of Commercial Arbitrators. Smith has published a number of articles and manuscripts on intellectual property and contract law. A past recipient of the Law School's "Professor of the Year" award, Smith's principal teaching areas are antitrust, business associations, contracts, intellectual property, patent law, and technology transfer and licensing.

  Smith is an active member of the North Carolina General Statutes Commission, the New York Academy of Sciences, the National Bar Association, and the AIPLA Section on Intellectual Property. He also works with Habitat for Humanity and Volunteers in Medical Engineering. He serves on NCCU's Insurance and Sexual Harrassment Committees and is the Chair of the University's Intellectual Property Committee.

  In his spare time, Professor Smith is a student pilot and studies general aviation.

Assistant Director: Professor Kimberly J. Cogdell
Courses Taught: Bioethics, Antitrust, Health Law

  Kimberly Cogdell received her undergraduate degree in molecular biology from Hampton University and her juris doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has also done graduate work in biology/biomedical sciences and public health, specializing in health policy and administration. She teaches Bioethics, Antitrust, and Health Law. She will be teaching courses in Scientific Evidence and Comparative Bioethics this year. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Professor Cogdell is the co-founder of the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Law Institute (BPLI) and coordinates many program development activities for the law school. She is also the former chair and current member of the Institutional Review Board at NCCU. Her area of research interest involves the law surrounding genetic manipulation, stem cell transplants, and artificial reproductive technology. She is also interested in health disparities and chronic conditions in vulnerable populations, and international development in Latin America.

Student Fellows

2007 Summer Research Fellows - Paige Jones, Cory Patterson and Bethany Embry are the 2007 summer research fellows. The fellowship involves basic legal research and Research with the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications Program with investigators from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Social Medicine, Center for Genomic Sciences. One of Paige’s projects is entitled, “The Body as Property,” which focuses on the body if viewed through the legal area of property law. Cory’s project is entitled “For the Benefit of Humankind or the Exploitation of Heritage: Biopiracy, the Rights of Indigenous Groups, and the Patenting of Human Genes.” Bethany’s project focuses on using intellectual property to promote access to new drugs both domestically and internationally. The fellows are also drafting practical legal material, assisting with the grant-writing activities of the institute, and developing a trial competition problem and conducting research for a book.

2006–2007 Student Research Fellows – Rochelle Bellamy and Roderick Brown served as research fellows during the 2006-2007 academic year. Both students were instrumental in assisting with the development of institute programs and activities. Ms. Bellamy graduated with honors and has been offered a position in the Charlotte office of Hedrick Eatman Gardner and Kincheloe. Mr. Brown is participating in national legal fellowship program intellectual property department of the Walmart corporation.