Senior Managing Director Arma Partners | Palo Alto, Calif. Steve Smith holds an MBA (’72) from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.
He completed his Harvard education after playing Division I golf at Oregon State University as an undergraduate — a passion that has followed him throughout his professional career.“I played golf all four years at OSU and served as team captain my senior year,” says Smith. “Some of my most valuable lifelong relationships were formed at that time, with my golf teammates and my fraternity brothers at Beta Theta Pi.”
Today, Smith is a senior managing director in the Silicon Valley office of Arma Partners, a global firm that advises technology, media, and telecommunications companies on public and private mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, and equity capital. Previously, he served as vice chairman of Broadview International, an advisory firm that focuses on technology and media-focused mergers and acquisitions, where he played a role in developing Broadview’s Silicon Valley office. He also served in senior roles at other management consulting and IT firms.
“My undergraduate education in engineering at OSU prepared me very well for graduate business school and my career in the technology industry,” Smith says. “I felt completely comfortable when I was at Harvard competing with top students from all over the world.”Smith remains bullish on engineering. “OSU engineering is even stronger today,” he says. “Any student considering a career in technology and business will find a terrific educational and personal development experience as a Beaver.”
Besides his career accomplishments, Smith has immersed himself in civic commitments. He serves on the boards of That Man May See, which supports research in advanced diagnosis and treatment of ophthalmologic diseases at the University of California – San Francisco; the Computer History Museum; the Churchill Club; and the Silicon Valley Executive Network. He is also a 2012 recipient of the John W. Gardner Leadership Award presented by the American Leadership Forum of Silicon Valley.Smith is one of only a few golfers in America who have competed in the national tournament for every amateur age bracket.
He continues to play golf as passionately today as he did as a Beaver. The Golf Nuts Society named Smith the 2004 Golf Nut of the Year.Smith lives in Palo Alto, Calif., with his wife Paula (OSU ’68). They have two grown children; Kyle, 34, is a wine marketing executive in London, United Kingdom, and Kendall Wilson, 30, is an elementary teacher in Palo Alto, Calif.
Degrees
- BS Industrial Engineering ’69