Scott Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and grew up in Cleveland, Miami, St. Louis, and Portland (Oregon). He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs from Lewis and Clark College in 1992, and his Master of Arts in Teaching degree from the School for International Training in 2003. From 1995, he has worked off and on as an English language teacher and TESOL teacher trainer in Seoul, Korea and Osaka, Japan. Currently, he is the Coordinator for the TESOL Professional Education Center and Assistant Professor for the Graduate School of Education at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul.