Adam Smith was a Scottish economist and philosopher born in 1723 who studied social philosophy and later became a professor of moral philosophy. He lost his father just months after his birth and was raised by his mother, influencing him to pursue high academic standards. Smith attended the University of Glasgow and Balliol College, Oxford, becoming one of the first to receive a scholarship. After graduating, he delivered public lectures and later acquired a professorship at the University of Glasgow, where he taught moral philosophy.