Richard Errett Smalley waxa uu ahaa farmashiistaha iyo physicist kuwaas oo wada helay nooc cusub oo kaarboon ah oo loo yaqaan buckminsterfullerene ama "buckyballs". Wuxuu ku dhashay June 6, 1943, magaalada Akron, Ohio, wuxuuna ku dhintay Oktoobar 28, 2005, Houston, Texas. Smalley waxa uu shahaadada koowaad ee jaamacadda ka qaatay Jaamacadda Michigan, halka uu PhD ka qaatay Jaamacadda Princeton. Wuxuu bare ka ahaa Jaamacadda Rice wuxuuna la wadaagay abaalmarinta Nobel Prize ee Chemistry 1996 shaqadiisa ku saabsan daahfurka buckminsterfullerene.