Kelly C. Smith

Kelly received his M.S. in Zoology (Evolutionary Genetics) from Duke University in 1992, followed by his Ph.D. in Philosophy in 1994. He wears several different professional hats, with joint appointments in Clemson’s department of Biological Sciences and as chair of the Department of Philosophy & Religion. In 2012, he was appointed to the faculty of the University of South Carolina Medical School in Greenville, where he oversees their ethics curriculum. Kelly’s research is similarly wide ranging and includes work on the concept of genetic disease; the relationship between religious faith and scientific reasoning; the ethical implications of new biotechnologies; complex systems in developmental and evolutionary biology; the origins and nature of life and philosophical issues surrounding the search for life on other planets (astrobiology).