John Lawrence Smith (February 10, 1889 – July 10, 1950) was a German-born American chemist, pharmaceutical industry executive, and sportsman. He was born Johann Schmitz in Krefeld, Prussia, in Imperial Germany. When he was three years old, his family emigrated to the United States and settled in Stonington, Connecticut. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1908 and the family legally changed its name to Smith in 1918.