Countdown to Commencement: Payge Smith and Dr. Bryan Smith

Four years later, Dr. Bryan Smith, and his daughter, Payge, returned to the Legacy Tower Plaza together.

Though Bryan has just completed his 12th year teaching chemistry at Heidelberg, higher education was not always the plan for the current dean of The School of Natural Sciences & Allied Health Sciences. “I resisted (education) at first,” he recalls.

“Throughout my schooling, I continued to enjoy and appreciate it. All of a sudden it hit me that this was my future.” That path was realized much quicker by his daughter. Payge arrived on campus for her first year in August 2014. Just like countless others before them, Payge and Bryan took their photo together (right) at the Legacy Tower Plaza in front of the University Commons during Welcome Week.

She says her close family ties kept her in her hometown of Tiffin when choosing a college destination. That decision led to an experiment constructed by her mother, Susan.

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