Title: Senior Technical Director
Company: Colgate-Palmolive
Location: Lebanon, New Jersey, United States
Leighton Davies-Smith, PhD, senior technical director at Colgate-Palmolive, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Scientists for dedication, achievements, and leadership in delivering new products.
With an impressive capability for combining multiple fields of science and engineering, Dr. Davies-Smith celebrates more than 35 years in innovation and product development. He has served as senior technical director at Colgate-Palmolive, joining the company in 2016 as a writing instrument expert before being promoted to his current role where he focuses on the development of innovative new products related to oral care, therapeutic dental treatments, and tooth whitening. Dr. Davies-Smith has played an invaluable part in the creation of many products, including Colgate’s newest teeth-whitening pen. He holds dozens of patents from both before and during his time at Colgate-Palmolive.
Dr. Davies-Smith is also the principal and product development and innovation consultant at Scribe Technical Consulting LLC, a company that assists in the development of cutting-edge pens. His extensive career includes vice president roles at Newell Brands and Ecolab and Dr. Davies-Smith contributed for more than five years as a product development manager at The Gillette Company (now Procter & Gamble) and in a similar role at the Parker Pen Company. His career started as a senior development scientist at Duracell Batteries in 1987.
Born in the United Kingdom, Dr. Davies-Smith’s education began with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry, physics and mathematics from the University of Brighton in 1984. Subsequently, he earned a PhD in applied electrochemistry from the same institution in 1987. Dr. Davies-Smith has added to his expertise by earning certifications in new product development and product development management. He is a member of the Product Development and Management Association, through which he stays updated on the latest developments affecting his field.
Dr. Davies-Smith’s success has been driven by the wide range of cross-disciplinary knowledge he carries with him. On top of his academic background in science, he has built up a wealth of experience with engineering and management. He credits his success to communication skills that have been honed over decades where he has gained a reputation for being able to explain complex scientific and engineering ideas to non-technical stakeholders, allowing him to effectively facilitate communication between different parts of each company he’s worked with. Dr. Davies-Smith’s achievements have been recognized through a multitude of patents and featured profiles in Investor’s Business Daily, The Wall Street Journal, Pennant magazine, Pen World, and Fast Company.
Dr. Davies-Smith is also known for contributions to the wider community as a civic-minded citizen. Prior to immigrating to the United States, he collaborated with the British Ministry of Defense to develop new alloys intended to improve resistance from the effects of corrosion from seawater.
Outside of his career, Dr. Davies-Smith is a dedicated husband and father to three children. He balances his work responsibilities with such activities as playing piano, listening to music, and completing often challenging do-it-yourself projects. He has no immediate plans to retire, intending to continue working and helping people for the foreseeable future. His passion for learning, inventing and exploring has not waned, and he expects it to keep pushing him forward for many years to come.
For more information, please visit:
Contact Dr. Davies-Smith:
