Ruben Smit has been a part of the Reinwardt Academy since 2006, when he joined as a senior lecturer Interpretation and Informal Learning. Since 2015, he holds the position as Manager International Programmes. Before Ruben began his work at the Reinwardt Academy, he had several decades of experience with cultural heritage, accumulated through working in a variety of positions at different museums.

After obtaining his B.A. in History and Geography from the Teacher Training College in Utrecht in 1986, he was hired as a junior educator at the then-called Tropenmuseum. When Ruben left the museum after ten years, he had worked there not only as an educator but also as an Events Coordinator and a Senior Communications Officer.

He joined Kasteel Groeneveld in Baarn where he worked as Head of Education and Public Relations and project manager. In 2005, Ruben became Head of Presentation at the Museum for Communication in The Hague.

As Lecturer and Coordinator of International Projects Ruben has been involved in exchanges in: Yogyakarta [2010-13] and Bandung [2014], Semarang 2019 - Indonesia; Moscow [2014-19] - Russian Federation; Kuching [2014-15] Sarawak, Malaysia; Beijing [ 2015, 2017] and Xi'an [2017] - China.