Named after RADM Edward H. "Iceberg" Smith, Smith Hall was built for the study of physical and ocean studies. RADM Smith, a descendent of Martha Vineyard Whalers, was known for his knowledge of Oceanography and the Arctic. It was said that "His quest for knowledge of ice behavior was unending", and his career reflected that. After graduating from the Academy, he worked with Professor Henry Bigelow at Harvard University analyzing ice patrol data and running experiments upon ice he had collected during his Arctic expeditions. He commanded the Marion and General Greene expeditions in 1928 which first surveyed iceberg producing glaciers of West Greenland. In 1931, he served as the Navigator on the transpolar flight of the Graf Zeppelin. His heroism during WWII awarded him the Distinguished Service Medal. One story that has survived the years happened on a Christmas Day during WWII. Knowing his troops morale would be low during the holidays, he arranged for the Army Airforce Bombers on their way to Norway, to have Christmas Trees flown into Greenland and that night he read the "Christmas Carol". The Coast Guard later sent him to the Institute of Geophysics at Bergen, Norway. Through his studies and publications, he was later awarded a Doctorate Degree in Physical Oceanography by Harvard University. After he retired from the Coast Guard in 1950, he became the Director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute for six years. Smith Hall has expanded over the years and now contains chemistry and physics laboratories and classrooms. Throughout the building there are display cases from the Seniors' Projects to artifacts from the West Greenland Glacier Study.