Dr. Kenneth Smith
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA


Initially a US Civil Service Management Intern, then a management analyst & systems specialist with the US Defense Department, Ken Smith subsequently had a career as a senior foreign service officer -- management & evaluation specialist, project manager, and in-house facilitator/trainer -- with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Ken assisted host country governments in many countries to plan, monitor and evaluate projects in various technical sectors; working ‘hands-on’ with their officers as well as other USAID personnel, contractors and NGOs. Intermittently, he was also a team leader &/or team member to conduct project, program & and country-level portfolio analyses and evaluations.
Concurrently, Ken had an active dual career as Air Force ready-reservist in Asia (Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines) as well as the Washington D.C. area; was Chairman of a Congressional Services Academy Advisory Board (SAAB); and had additional duties as an Air Force Academy Liaison Officer. He retired as a ‘bird’ colonel.
After retirement from USAID, Ken was a project management consultant for ADB, the World Bank, UNDP and USAID.
He earned his DPA (Doctor of Public Administration) from the George Mason University (GMU) in Virginia, his MS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT Systems Analysis Fellow, Center for Advanced Engineering Study), and BA & MA degrees in Government & International Relations from the University of Connecticut (UCONN). A long-time member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and IPMA-USA, Ken is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) and a member of the PMI®-Honolulu and Philippines Chapters.
Ken’s book -- Project Management PRAXIS (available from Amazon) -- includes many innovative project management tools & techniques; and describes a “Toolkit” of related templates available directly from him at kenfsmith@aol.com on proof of purchase of PRAXIS.
Dr. Ken Smith can be contacted at kenfsmith@aol.com
Profile updated October 2020
Articles and Papers
- On the Logical Framework - Letter to the Editor - Smith - March 2021
- Personality-typing Tool to Improve Team-Building - Advisory Article - Smith - November 2020
- Just in Time Line of Balance - Advisory Article - Smith - October 2020
- Risk Exposure, Murphy’s Law & Management Reserve - Advisory Article - Smith - September 2020
- Realistic Time Estimates Revisited - Advisory Article - Smith - August 2020
- On the Subject of Black Elephants - Letter to the Editor - Smith - July 2020
- Setting Realistic Performance Bonuses for Program & Project implementation Personnel - Advisory Article - Smith - June 2020
- Adding Value to Earned Value: The PISA P (PI) Chart for Monitoring Project Implementation - Advisory Article - Smith - December 2019
- Estimating Realistic Activity Times: A Critical Pseudoscience Problem and Workaround Solution - Advisory Article - Smith - October 2019
- Understanding & Applying Earned Value: A ‘Quick & Easy’ Approach for Monitoring Project Implementation - Advisory Article - Smith - June 2019
- A Practitioner’s Guide to the PMO - Advisory Article - Smith - November 2018
- EVALUATION: The Project Management Cycle’s Sixth Dimension - Commentary - Smith - October 2018