{"id":24126,"date":"2019-01-11T12:29:19","date_gmt":"2019-01-11T17:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencescosmaincms.cm.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=24126"},"modified":"2019-01-16T07:54:57","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T12:54:57","slug":"alum-shows-versatility-of-anthropology-degree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alum-shows-versatility-of-anthropology-degree\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumnus Shows Versatility of Anthropology Degree"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Brian Smith boards the submarine USS Annapolis.<\/p><\/div>\n

Anthropology and nuclear physics seem worlds apart, but Brian Smith proves that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n

As an Orlando native, Smith had been around UCF his whole life. Ultimately, the university\u2019s growing campus and reputation encouraged him to pursue his education here.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it was exciting to be on the ground floor of a revolutionary change to Florida\u2019s higher education landscape,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Smith first became interested in anthropology while taking an introductory course at UCF. He originally intended to pursue a degree in engineering, but the stories his professor told about field work in North America intrigued him. After a second anthropology class, he changed his major.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Bowling at the White House<\/p><\/div>\n

After graduating, Smith entered the U.S. Navy\u2019s Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida. Shortly after his commission, he was selected to serve at Naval Reactors, a joint Department of Energy\/ Navy program in Washington, D.C. After his active duty assignment, he continued to work at Naval Reactors as a federal civilian as director of Finance and Budget.<\/p>\n

Currently, Smith is the director of Management and Administration with Naval Reactors as part of the Senior Executive Service, an exclusive leadership position held by less than one percent of federal civilians.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy current position is heavily focused on human capital management,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI oversee personnel matters for a headquarters and field office staff of 400 federal civilians in two executive branch agencies and 400 military members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some memorable moments from his career include delivering a briefing in the White House\u2019s situation room, and standing on top of a submarine while dolphins swam past. But the most rewarding moments for Smith is mentoring future senior executives.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenior leaders owe it to the next generation to pass along perspectives gained through successes and failures,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Smith credits the Anthropology faculty at UCF for pushing him to think outside the box and evaluate his preconceived notions and biases.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evolution of my own perception of the people around me prepared me for the complex personal interactions that occur every day in Washington, D.C.,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His advice for current and future students? Hard work is key.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe results don\u2019t matter nearly as much as the effort,\u201d he said. \u201cAs long as you know you could not have tried harder, it\u2019s easy to be proud and learn from the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anthropology and nuclear physics seem worlds apart, but Brian Smith proves that\u2019s not the case. As an Orlando native, Smith had been around UCF his whole life. Ultimately, the university\u2019s growing campus and reputation encouraged him to pursue his education here. \u201cFor me, it was exciting to be on the ground floor of a revolutionary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":24127,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[31,32,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-anthropology","category-shining-knights"],"yoast_head":"\nAlumnus Shows Versatility of Anthropology Degree - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/alum-shows-versatility-of-anthropology-degree\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alumnus Shows Versatility of Anthropology Degree - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anthropology and nuclear physics seem worlds apart, but Brian Smith proves that\u2019s not the case. As an Orlando native, Smith had been around UCF his whole life. 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