Smoot, L.Douglas (Leon Douglas)

L. Douglas Smoot (b. 1934) is a professor of engineering and ecclesiastical leader in Utah.

Smoot, great-grandson of early LDS leader Abraham O. Smoot, is a Provo, UT native. He earned degrees in chemical engineering and worked as a professor at BYU and as a private consultant. He was instrumental in the renovation of the early Brigham Young Academy building in Provo, UT.

Leon Douglas Smoot, great-grandson of early LDS leader Abraham O. Smoot, is a Provo, UT native. He earned a degree in chemical engineering and worked as a professor at BYU and as a private consultant. He was instrumental in the renovation of the early Brigham Young Academy building in Provo, UT.

L. Douglas Smoot (born 1934) an engineering professor and researcher in Utah.

Leon Douglas Smoot was born in Provo, Utah in 1934. He grew up in Springville, Utah. He attended Brigham Young University (BYU) as an undergraduate from 1952 to 1957. He married Marian Bird in 1953. Smoot taught at BYU beginning in 1967 and was department chairman from 1970-1977, Dean of Engineering and Technology from 1977 through 1994, and Director of the Advanced Combustion Research Engineering Center (ACERC) from its beginning in 1986 to 1997. He retired from BYU in 2006. In 1985, he participated in a research competition which resulted in the awarding of a grant to start ACERC. Smoot ran the Center for twelve years. He also worked for Lockheed, Boeing, and the California Institute of Technology, researching energy and combustion. In 1995, he was set apart as an Area Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Utah South Area, and was ordained to the fifth Quorum of the Seventy in 1997. Smoot is also known for his work on restoring Brigham Young Academy, from 1995 to its dedication in 2001. He wrote a book on his work, entitled "The Miracle at Academy Square." He is a descendant of Abraham O. Smoot.