Longtime University of Arizona Arthritis Center Disability Assessment and Research Clinic Director Dr. David Wayne Smith has passed away at his home in Santa Barbara, California. He was 95-years-old.
Dr. Smith, an Emeritus Professor at the University of Arizona and a Board Certified Forensic Examiner, devoted his life to helping individuals with disabilities. He was a specialist in disability determination, having been a consultant for the Bureau of Hearings and Appeals and the Social Security Administration for many years. His experience included special training in musculoskeletal disease with major emphasis on the degree to which medically confirmed impairments interfere with physical function related to employment. He was the director of a comprehensive rehabilitation center before joining the University of Arizona in the late 1970s. Dr. Smith had also published numerous articles on disability and the forensic aspect of debilitation.
A past president of the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (AHRP), Dr. Smith was a mainstay in the UArizona Arthritis Center. A member of the UA faculty at the time of the UAAC's founding in 1985, Dr. Smith was integral in the growth of the Arthritis Center.