MBA Education Honors Smolik with Willis Bryant Award

MBA Education presented its 2017 Willis Bryant Award to Steven Smolik, Business Advisor with USAA, San Antonio, Texas.

The Willis Bryant Award recognizes outstanding academic achievement in the three courses of the MBA Education School of Mortgage Banking and is awarded to the top student graduate at each offering of SOMB Course III.

Smolik has been active in the mortgage industry since 2004 and has balanced several military deployments, including two to Afghanistan, throughout his civilian career. A Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves, he recently accepted temporary recall orders to serve as Homeport Change Program Manager at Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tenn.

While his civilian career is on hold, Steven maintains his employment with USAA as a Business Advisor within the Real Estate Lending Department. He regularly participates in local MBA events and has also served as a subject matter expert in the update of several of MBA’s online self-study courses and this year served as a chair of a subcommittee for the Residential Education Content Advisory Board.

Steven earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the United States Naval Academy and is married to Dalisay (Deysi) De Ocampo, who also serves on active duty in the US Navy.

To qualify for the Willis Bryant Award, a student must achieve a grade of “excellent” on all SOMB exams and demonstrate exceptional leadership qualities in both the classroom and when interacting with other students.

This award was established in the name of Willis R. Bryant, following his death in 1965. Bryant, a mortgage banking pioneer of the 1950s, was a former lecturer at the SOMB who authored Mortgage Lending Fundamentals and Practices, a former SOMB textbook.