Nancy Gordon Smith graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Sydney in 1959, followed by a Master of Laws degree in 1970. Although admitted to the Bar, she did not practise as a barrister. On 16 August 1964 she was admitted as a solicitor. At the time of her death she held the positions of Senior Solicitor and Deputy Secretary to the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The University of Sydney awards two prizes in Smith's memory.The Nancy Gordon Smith Postgraduate Prize may be awarded annually on the recommendation of the Board of Postgraduate Studies of the Faculty of Law, University of Sydney, to the most proficient candidate for the degree of Master of Laws by coursework.

Sources used to compile this entry: New South Wales Law Almanac for 1962, V. C. N. Blight Government Printer, Sydney, 1962, p. 103; 1963, p. 101; 1964, p. 105; 1980, p. 134; 1981, p. 178; 1982, p. 181; 'Conferring of degrees', The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 April 1959, p. 9; The Ryerson Index (See: 'Smith, Nancy Gordon', The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 1 June 1982, p. 21); 'List of all prizes with conditions', Sydney Law School, p.12, http://sydney.edu.au/scholarships/docsprizes/law_school_prizes.pdf, accessed online 28 February 2016.