Steve Smith, AcSS, (born 4 February 1952) is a prominent international relations theorist, professor, and senior university manager. In October 2002 he succeeded Geoffrey Holland as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter, and since 2009 has been the President of Universities UK.

Steve Smith has a BSc in Politics and International Studies, an MSc degree in International Studies and a PhD degree in International Relations, all from the University of Southampton. During his academic career he has written or edited 13 books, written nearly 100 academic papers and has given over 150 academic presentations in 22 countries. His most widely read work (co-authored with the late Professor Martin Hollis) is Explaining and Understanding International Relations, published by Oxford University Press. He is the editor of the prestigious Cambridge University Press / British International Studies Association series.

Professor Smith's career has included positions as Director of the Centre for Public Choice Studies at the University of East Anglia and Head of the Department of International Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, a department he built up to a position of international recognition. In 2003 - 2004 he was President of the International Studies Association (ISA), only the second non-American to receive this honour; in 1999 he had been awarded the Association's Susan Strange Award for challenging received wisdom in the discipline. In 2000 Professor Smith was elected as an Academician of the Social Sciences (AcSS). In April 2007, he was awarded an honorary professorship by Jilin University in China . Between 2006 and 2008 he was Chair of the Board of the 1994 Group.