Smith will succeed current chief executive Sir Crispin Davis, who will retire in March. Smith will join Reed Elsevier's board as chief executive designate on 1 January.
The appointment comes as Reed Elsevier continues with attempts to divest its B2B magazine division, Reed Business Information.
Reed Elsevier had initially looked to net as much as £1bn for the division, which publishes titles such as New Scientist. However, it has been forced to drop its asking price due to the economic downturn.
According to reports, the three bidders left in the running are private equity outfit Bain Capital, an investment group led by TPG and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, and a consortium of private equity firms including Apollo Management.
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