| Philander Smith | |
| Birth Place: | Worth, New York, US |
| Death Place: | Oak Park, Illinois, US |
| Resting Place: | Forest Home Cemetery (Forest Park, Illinois) |
| Known For: | Philander Smith University |
| Occupation: | Real estate |
| Spouse: | Adeline M. Smith (1812–1885) |
| Children: | 2 |
Philander Smith (November 23, 1809 – February 24, 1882) was an American real estate agent and philanthropist. Philander Smith University is his namesake.
Philander Smith was the son of David Smith, whose 1801 sawmill in upstate New York gave name to the village of Smith’s Mills (now the town of Adams).
Among the early settlers at Oak Park, Illinois, Smith and wife Adeline provided financial assistance to Methodist missions in India, China, and Japan.
Smith died in Oak Park on February 24, 1882, and was buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.[1] His widow Adeline continued to give away his $125,000 fortune to a number of causes for a dozen years after his death. Her gift that year to the Methodists' Walden Seminary in Little Rock, Arkansas resulted in its immediate renaming as Philander Smith College.