Ryan Smith ’00, M ’07 did not plan on teaching as part of his career in nuclear medicine, but he found it is one of the things he now enjoys most about his job. Smith is the clinical Coordinator for the Nuclear Medicine Institute at The University of Findlay, a position he ha held since 2004. In addition to teaching, he coordinates placement of students to receive practical, hands-on training in a choice of nearly 100 affiliated clinical facilities located in 15 states. He also makes clinical site visits to monitor students’ progress. “I love to travel, see new places, meet new people. I get to do all of that when I'm on the road doing the visits,” he remarked.

As an upperclassman at Jackson High School, near Massillon, Ohio, Smith was exposed to health care careers through a Boy Scouts of America-sponsored Explorer group. He said he was interested in nuclear medicine technology from the beginning, and through research determined that The University of Findlay offered the premier program.  Following his graduation from Findlay in 2000, Smith worked as a nuclear medicine technologist as Wilson Memorial Hospital in Sidney, Ohio, and the Smith Clinic in Marion, Ohio, before returning to his alma mater.  He was looking for a job in the Findlay area when he stopped by the NMI to connect with faculty.  He met then-new NMI program director Richard States, and discovered the program needed more instructors.  At first, Smith said he laughed at the thought of being a teacher, but then he became excited at the prospect.

Since taking the job, he said that he has grown as a teacher and in his organizational and communication skills.  He also is interested in his students and enjoys building relationships with them, he said. He had a good role model in Elaine Markon. An NMI graduate, Markon has taught in the NMI since 1975 when the program was housed at Hillcrest Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, and she came with NMI when it was acquired by UF in 1984.  He cited her as an excellent teacher who knew everything about the NMI program.  He also fondly remembered the late David Wallach, who taught Smith’s Freshman Seminar statistics class. 

“He went out of the way to help me through the stresses of an incoming freshman,” Smith said. “He always remembered me, even after graduation. He’d remember my name and ask how things were going.”

The field of nuclear medicine doesn’t offer a master’s degree, so to continue advancing his career, Smith went on to earn a master of business administration in organizational leadership in 2007 from The University of Findlay.

He met his wife, Marie (Cleavenger) '00, ironically not at UF where both were attending, but at the Blanchard Valley Residential Center where they were both working. Married since 2002, they have a son, Wyatt, 4, and a daughter, Scarlet Grayce, 2. A stay-at-home mom, Marie works part-time at The Right Thing Inc. and has a photography business taking photos of newborns in hospitals and then making DVDs of the photos choreographed to music. She also is working toward earning an MBA at The University of Findlay.

Smith is a member of the College First Church of God and is involved with church-related activities, including playing on the church softball team. He also enjoys following his favorite sports teams, landscaping and reading.

From a student to a faculty member, Smith has come full circle back to his alma mater, where he is making a difference in training nuclear medicine professionals for the future. “It is exciting and rewarding to have the opportunity to educate the next generation, not only in the classroom environment at The University of Findlay, but also in the clinical phase as well,” he said.