Ellen Smith

A native of Connecticut, Ellen Smith has lived in Oak Ridge since 1981. She is an environmental scientist on the staff of the Environmental Sciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she has participated in or managed a variety of activities related to waste management and environmental impact assessment.

She was first elected to City Council in 2007. She served from 2007 to 2012 and was elected again for a 4-year term that began in 2014. As a Council member she served as Mayor Pro-Tem from 2014 to 2016, has served on the Council’s Budget and Finance Committee and other ad hoc committees, represented the Council on the City and Schools Preschool Planning Committee in 2015, and has represented city government in retail recruitment activities. She participated as a member of two technical committees for the Plan ET regional planning initiative (2011-2013) for the Knoxville region. In 2016 she became a member of the National League of Cities’ Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Advocacy Committee.