麻豆村

It took a fraternity mixer 鈥� and a subsequent ski trip 鈥� to bring Carnegie Mellon alumni Diane and Brad Smith together.

But that chance meeting has led to a long life together for the pair 鈥� successful careers, successful children and years of support for their alma mater.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important to us that Carnegie Mellon does well,鈥� Diane adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 become our family school.鈥�

For Diane, choosing Carnegie Tech wasn鈥檛 a tough decision. She grew up just north of Pittsburgh, graduating from Mars High School in Butler County. It was a given that she and her siblings would continue their education after high school, but in her case, Diane鈥檚 mother made the decision about where that would be.

鈥淚 was an angsty senior, and pretty indifferent about where I was going to go,鈥� she says. 鈥淢om had wanted to go to Carnegie Tech and study library sciences, but she grew up in the Depression and there was no money for her to do that. So she helped me fill out the application, and when I got in, I kind of did it because it's what my mother always wanted to do. And it turned out, of course, to be a wonderful decision, but it was a funny way to come to it.鈥�

Brad鈥檚 path to Pittsburgh was less direct. An 鈥淎rmy brat,鈥� he was born in Germany, attended high school in Colorado Springs and earned admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

鈥淚 went for one year and I decided that this was not going to be my career,鈥� Brad says. 鈥淢y brother-in-law was in the metallurgy department at Carnegie Tech, and I had a cousin who was at MIT. I was really aimed at going to Boston.鈥�

Brad鈥檚 sister and brother-in-law convinced him to travel to Pittsburgh and take a look at Tech; that visit turned into a commitment, even though it left Brad with a daunting challenge for his sophomore year.

鈥淚 was bound and determined to graduate with my class, and the only West Point class they accepted was gym,鈥� Brad says. 鈥淪o I took four semesters of physics the first year, two semesters of chemistry, four semesters of math and humanities classes. It was an interesting year.鈥�

Amid that astounding course load, Brad also managed to have a social life via a fraternity 鈥� and that鈥檚 how he met Diane. Her sorority had an annual ski trip at Seven Springs and the night before the trip in 1969, there was a mixer at Brad鈥檚 fraternity.

College students are college students, so there were libations available at the mixer 鈥� and Diane says that may have had something to do with her confusion the next day when she saw Brad at Seven Springs and assumed that she had invited him the night before.

It turned out he was there as the date of one of her sorority sisters. Despite that, Diane says, 鈥淗e spent the whole day with me, and my sorority sister was really irritated that he basically ignored her. So that's how we met. We got pinned in May of that year and married a year after that.鈥�

That took some work. Their college careers overlapped by just one semester, and they made the best of that time with their Greek organizations 鈥� Diane lived in Morewood Gardens, across the street from Brad鈥檚 fraternity house 鈥� or with walks through Schenley Park or the occasional movie.

鈥淏rad always claimed he had no money,鈥� Diane says, as they both laughed.

But once he was in the Army and stationed in Arlington, Virginia, they made sure they still had time together.

鈥淚 managed to visit her frequently after my graduation 鈥� almost weekly,鈥� he says.

Once married, their lives together began with Brad鈥檚 commission as an intelligence officer in the Army and a duty station in Korea. Once that was complete, they settled the Washington, D.C., area; Diane continued law school at Georgetown University and Brad joined a research and development company, where he worked for thirteen years. After the partner who hired him left the company he left to start his own company.

By then, Diane had started her 35-year career specializing in family law. And Brad had his sights set on founding something new: Strategic Analysis Inc. The company started small 鈥� small enough that it fit in a corner of Diane鈥檚 law library at the outset 鈥� and its first job was consulting work for Brad鈥檚 old employer. It鈥檚 since grown to a firm that provides technical and consulting services to several government agencies from offices in the Washington area and Colorado Springs.

Both Diane 鈥� who spent the last three years of her career working as SA鈥檚 counsel 鈥� and Brad are now retired, and their daughter, 1999 College of Engineering graduate Lindsay Samora, is the company鈥檚 CEO. They still serve on the company鈥檚 board, and they鈥檙e still working to make sure that their alma mater continues to turn out groundbreaking Tartans.

In 2010, the couple established two fellowships 鈥� the Bradford and Diane Smith Fellowship in Engineering, to support doctoral students in the College of Engineering, and the Bradford and Diane Smith Humanities Scholars Fund, benefitting students in Dietrich College鈥檚 Humanities Scholars Program 鈥� and have ensured that both are funded in their estate plans. They鈥檝e also contributed to the Angel Jordan Faculty Fund, named for the beloved engineering professor, dean and 麻豆村 provost, and last year they, along with Lindsay, established the Smith-Samora Family Endowed Engineering Career Development fund, supporting professors who are seeking tenure.

鈥淚n a way, it鈥檚 kind of a miracle that we found each other, because the time we had together at 麻豆村 as students was so short,鈥� Diane says. 鈥淥nce we did, though, we always knew 麻豆村 was at the center of our lives.

鈥淐arnegie Mellon has given us so much,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚 think we both just appreciate what the university has done and is doing. And we love being a very small part of it as it grows.鈥�