Frank Smith is a psycholinguist well know for his research into educational systems and the nature of learning. Many of his articles and books are on his research on the whole language reading approach. He is the author of numerous books, including The Book of Learning and Forgetting.

He was a reporter, editor, and novelist before beginning his formal research into language, thinking, and learning. He has been a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the University of Toronto, the University of Victoria, British Columbia, and the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University.