Andrew Price-Smith

Andrew Price-Smith, passed away July 11, 2019 after a hard-fought battle with cancer. He was 50 years old. Born in Toronto, Canada, he was a graduate of Queen’s University, before continuing his studies to earn his M.A. from the University of Western Ontario and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto, where he was known for his work as the founding director of the Project on Health and Global Affairs at the Munk Center for International Studies. He went on to hold a post-doctoral fellowship at the Earth Institute of Columbia University in New York. After tenure track positions at two other universities, he joined the faculty of Colorado College in 2005 and was promoted to rank of full professor in 2017. He was the David Packard Professor of International Relations and Director of the Global Health Initiative at Colorado College.

Andrew’s research and work involved the analysis of the effects of disease, environmental change, and energy scarcity on the security of nations. A cross disciplinary thinker, he specialized in the analysis of effects of disease, environmental change and energy scarcity on the security of nations. His books include: Plagues and Politics (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2001), Health of Nations (MIT Press, 2002, a Grawemeyer Award Finalist for Ideas Improving World Order); Contagion and Chaos; Disease, Ecology and National Security in the Era of Globalization (MIT Press, 2009); Oil, Illiberalism and War (MIT Press, 2015), Rising Threats, Enduring Challenges (Oxford University Press, 2015) with two books, U.S. Foreign Policy in a New Era (Oxford University Press, 2020) and the Carbon Shadow: Climate Change, Global Governance and International Security (MIT Press, 2020) in press at the time of his death. He gave invited lectures in Canada, the UK(Oxford), Europe, and many in the United States. He testified on climate change, disease, and international security before the U.S. House Science and Technology Committee, and acted as advisor for the U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI), the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank, and the United States Institute of Peace.

Also a talented musician and songwriter, as well as an avid outdoorsman, his passion for life was evident in the way he fought his disease.

He is mourned by his devoted wife Janell and their young children, his sister Adrienne Smith and her children, his mother Cynthia McLeod, his stepsister Heather McLeod Bennett (Kelly) and their children, his father Richard Price Smith and his in-laws Gerry and Maria Harvey. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Marjorie and Harry Price Smith, and Hon. D.C. and Margaret Thomas, and his stepfather Prof. John T. (Jack) McLeod.

A memorial service will be held September 7 at 10:00 a.m. at Shove Chapel at Colorado College. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Andrew Price-Smith Memorial Fund which has been established at Wells Fargo Bank to benefit the education of his young children. P.O. Box 92, 545 3rd St., Monument, CO 80132