Chester H. Smith was a Professor of Law at The University of Arizona College of Law, serving from 1929 until his death in 1964. Born on October 18, 1893, on a farm near Egan, South Dakota, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1920 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1921 from the University of South Dakota, followed by a Scientia Juris Doctor in 1924 from Harvard Law School. Early in his career, Smith taught in public schools, becoming principal in Temvik, North Dakota, at age 19, and served as an instructor at South Dakota State College in 1916. He was honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant in the Field Artillery after frontline service in World War I from 1917 to 1919. His legal academia began as Associate Professor of Law at Montana State University School of Law from 1924 to 1926, during which he was admitted to the Montana bar; followed by one year as Professor of Law at Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans; and as Professor of Law at the State University of Iowa College of Law until 1929, with admission to the Iowa bar. In 1931, Smith achieved the highest grade on the Arizona bar exam in a class of 72.

At Arizona, Smith distinguished himself as an exceptional educator with a profound capacity for legal analysis and dynamic classroom presentation, earning widespread acclaim as one of the most popular law professors. In 1932, he developed and led the annual Smith Bar Review Course until 1964, which was attended by the majority of lawyers then practicing in Arizona. He authored approximately 21 books focused on bar examination preparation, including the Green Book Series covering common bar subjects, How to Answer Law Examinations (1946), Survey of Trusts (1949), Survey of Real Property (1956), and the Legal Gem Series of softcover texts on various legal subjects starting in 1959, derived from his bar review materials. Smith was a member of the bar associations of South Dakota, Montana, Iowa, Arizona, and the American Bar Association. His civic engagements included serving as President of the Catalina Council of the Boy Scouts of America, for which he received the Silver Beaver award, the highest local council honor for scouting contributions. Smith's lasting influence is reflected in the endowed Chester Smith Professor of Law position, currently held by emeritus faculty, and the Chester Smith Scholarship awarded to law students for academic performance, integrity, professionalism, and financial need.