Capt. Taylor Smith, HCOP Class of 2028
Sneaking into the student section in Jordan-Hare Stadium and meeting new people at tailgates. It is a story that any number of Auburn people could tell, and it is that timeless story that Taylor Smith can share about his introduction to Auburn University and the Harrison College of Pharmacy.
A 2011 graduate of the United States Military Academy West Point, Smith served in the United States Army from 2011-20, reaching the rank of captain.
His last assignment with the Army was teaching in the ROTC program as an assistant professor of military science at the University of North Georgia. While there, his youngest sister was pursuing her degree at Auburn and on some football Saturdays, Smith and his wife, Becca, would come to Auburn and join her in the student section on borrowed Tiger Cards. Fortunately, on one of those trips he had the opportunity to meet former Harrison College of Pharmacy (HCOP) recruiter Dr. Charles Woosley.
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“At one of the football games that my wife and I went to, I stopped at the pharmacy tailgate and met Dr. Charles Woosley,” said Smith. “Talking to him locked in Auburn as my number one choice in pharmacy school.”
Now a member of the Class of 2028, Smith is making plans for his rotations in his final year and a future back in the military. Upon receiving his PharmD, Smith plans to commission in the United States Navy and provide care for those in the armed forces.
“The best friendships that I’ve ever built happened during my time in service, and I am excited to go build more in the Navy,” said Smith.
A family tradition in service and pharmacy
With his time in the military and now in pharmacy school, Smith is living a legacy that started long before him a long way from Auburn.
In the 1940s, his great grandfather Robert Lumbard came to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to manage a pharmacy. He became a part owner of another pharmacy a couple years later and in 1952 purchased his own pharmacy, eventually naming it Lumbard Drug Company.
“That started a trend of my family becoming pharmacists. My grandfather and his brother are both pharmacists, and I have a cousin that became a pharmacist as well,” said Smith. “I have been able to observe the quality of life that is afforded to those family members because of their career path. When I had the opportunity to follow that career path too, I took it.”
Prior to exploring that path, he was first on one set by his father and his 28-year career in the Army. Growing up in a military family, the Army was a big part of his life. So, after completing high school in Highland Falls, New York, a town just south of West Point, he accepted the opportunity at the United States Military Academy.
While there, he earned a degree in Russian with an environmental engineering track. After commissioning, he took a position as an artillery officer while also serving in roles as platoon leader, fire support officer, fire direction officer and division artillery fire control officer. During that time, he also deployed to Sinai, Egypt.
“The relationships that I was able to build in the Army stand out the most. Spending weeks together in poor living conditions, when it’s too hot, or too cold, or non-stop rain, while sleep deprived, but working together towards a common goal builds a different kind of friendship that I haven’t seen outside the military,” said Smith. “Experiencing successes, in spite of difficulties, because of the work that we put in bonded me to my soldiers for life.”
Trading the military for the Auburn Family
Following that fateful football game and tailgate, Smith completed his remaining prerequisites and enrolled at HCOP in the fall of 2024. When he joined the Auburn Family, he did not come alone as his wife Becca came with him.
The couple met when Smith lived in Tallahassee, Florida, while his father was working on his Ph.D. They reconnected later in life, got married and have been able to support each other through life and career transitions. A nurse and a Navy veteran, Becca currently works as a lab facilitator in Auburn’s College of Nursing.
“My favorite future possibility for us is that we both come back to teach at Auburn in the pharmacy and nursing departments following my time in the Navy,” said Smith.
In the meantime, he is loving his Auburn experience and focused on completing his PharmD. Embracing the student experience, he and Becca have become active members in the Auburn Student Veterans Association where Smith serves as head of gameday operations.
“My favorite thing about pharmacy school has been Auburn University as a whole,” said Smith. “Pat Dye said that ‘Alabama fans love Alabama football, Auburn fans love Auburn,’ and I believe that statement fully.”
Pharmacy school is not without its challenges. Long days in the classroom and the lab, juggled with work and rotations, Smith leans on his roots when it is time to focus.
“Pharmacy school is a hard program to keep up with, but the strengths I developed in the Army are helpful,” said Smith. “The discipline that I built over my military time makes it easier for me to just buckle down and study when I need to.”
Even with the long days, he is excited to be on The Plains and living out what he sees as the quintessential college experience.
“When anyone asks me to describe Auburn, I tell them that if there is a movie about a college, that college might as well be Auburn,” said Smith. “This school is Faber College from Animal House, it’s the University of Ithaca from Road Trip, it’s Barden University from Pitch Perfect.
“Everything that I think of when I picture a college is right here at Auburn and I love it.”
