Dr. David Ray Smith

To David's family and friends, I offer my sincere condolences on your loss of this funny, intelligent, and kind man.

I met David in Boulder, Colorado in 1978, when we were colleagues in a summer fellowship program. In addition to computer classroom instruction and individual research, our group toured the region on the weekends.

David planned an epic July 4th weekend camping tour of Colorado for us, serving as the main driver in a VW van as we hit the highlights of NW CO -- unforgettable to this day. We also traveled to the Cheyenne marathon to cheer David on his run.

I'm happy to learn that he lived a such fulfilling life and touched so many people in such a positive way, and sad to know that he passed so soon.

David was a big mentor when I was teaching at the Naval Academy and he was always giving me helpful ideas & advice about teaching. Once David got the idea I was interested to teach college past the Naval Academy, he spent much time with me talking about various options to still continue teaching, and he really inspired me to do so.

He was so kind to start giving me opportunities to bolster my teaching resume (something at the time I didn't even know he was doing for me). He was the one primarily responsible for my teaching at Johns Hopkins, and gave me the strongest recommendation to get my teaching position at AACC.

My college teaching career has now been longer than my career in the Navy. It´s mainly because of Professor Smith that I´ve had the pleasure & honor of having such an enjoyable & satisfying career!...

Peg, Nikki, Andrea and the rest of the family, my heart breaks for all of you. David was an amazing boss, co worker and friend. Every single day he came to work, he always talked about his family. He had so much love and was so proud of all of you. He was so dedicated to planning and executing the Maury Project. He enjoyed sending out daily weather reports every day to the Academy. He touched so many lives at USNA, including mine. He was a great boss and he will be missed. RIP David.

I was one of the high school teachers in the Maury Project. He was a continuous inspiration and it is the standard I hope to approach as I develop my own programs for space grant.

I was so blessed to have Dr. Smith as an academic advisor, instructor, and a mentor from my time as an Oceanography major at USNA. He invested so much in each of us. We will pay it forward.

Fair winds and following seas, Sir.

He was one of my favorite professors as a mid at USNA and then as a colleague when I went back to teach. Prayers for David and his family and friends.