David Bruce Smith

(Logan Werlinger/For GW Today)

 David Bruce Smith | B.A. '79; son of Robert Smith, grandson of Charles Smith

The author of 11 books, including one on his grandfather, Mr. Smith visited GW as a prospective student during the era of the Tin Tabernacle. His undergraduate career coincided with the opening of the Smith Center. The building symbolizes one of the hallmarks of his grandfather's life—the connection of mind and body—and is a reflection of both his grandfather and father.

"My grandfather knew that the mind and body were connected before most people were aware of that. From the time he was maybe 23 or 24, in 1925, until the day he died when he was 94 and-a-half, he had an exercise regimen every morning. I mean, it was a pretty rigorous regimen. And he wanted to make other people aware of the mind-body connection.

"The building was reopened in January of 2011. My father had already passed away, but I knew that it was very important to him that this building, which is on a significant corner, be the signature building of the school. And when I look around, I can see my grandfather's stamp is on the inside, my father's stamp is on the outside. Landscaping was paramount to [my father]. To him, there was no point in having a grand building if you didn't landscape it. It's pretty impressive in the spring and the summer. Layered, like their thinking."