Smythe, Dallas W.

YEARS IN THE DEPARTMENT:

1948-1963

RESEARCH INTEREST:

Political Economy of Communication

BIOSKETCH:

Dallas Walker Smythe was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1907. He received both his bachelor’s and doctorate degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. After earning his PhD, Smythe worked as an economist for various government agencies in the U.S., including the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, and the Federal Communications Commission. At the FCC, he helped create the Blue Book, which codified the country’s telecommunications policy until the 1960’s.

Smythe then left the government to pursue an academic career, and his appointment to the University of Illinois in 1948 immediately caused controversy. Smythe had developed radical views about social justice during his time with the federal government, which caused suspicion that he was a communist sympathizer. These suspicions were fueled further when FBI director J. Edgar Hoover refused to share the agency’s file on Smythe with the University.

Nevertheless, Smythe became a Professor of Economics at the University in 1948. Much of his work focused on the relationship between political and economic power in capitalist systems. His work came under scrutiny once again during the McCarthy era of the 1950s, which made it hard for Smythe to get his work published or his research funded. Smythe ultimately left the U.S. in 1963 due to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Smythe and his family moved back to Canada that year, where he took a position at the University of Saskatchewan. After teaching there for ten years, Smythe moved again in 1974 to Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. He would continue to teach at Simon Fraser until his death on September 6, 1992. Dallas Smythe was 85 years old.

PHD:

University of California, Berkeley, 1937

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Smythe, Dallas W. Dependency Road: Communications, Capitalism, Consciousness, and Canada. Norwood, N.J: Ablex Pub. Corp, 1981. Print.
Smythe, Dallas W, and Thomas H. Guback. Counterclockwise: Perspectives on Communication. Boulder: Westview Press, 1994. Print.
Parker, Everett C, David W. Barry, and Dallas W. Smythe. The Television-Radio Audience and Religion. New York: Harper, 1955. Print.
Smythe, Dallas W. The Structure and Policy of Electronic Communication. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1957. Print.
Smythe, Dallas W. Space Satellite Communications and Public Opinion. Urbana: Institute of Communications Research, University of Illinois, 1960. Print.

VITA: