Gregory C. Smith ’84

Gregory C. Smith was born and raised in Coming, New York and after high school decided to make the trek down South for college.  He graduated from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 1984 and in 1988 received his master’s in international business from the University of South Carolina.

Smith was the co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Advectis, Inc. – a company that pioneered

the processing of mortgage loans electronically, leading to dramatic efficiency improvements to the overall mortgage process. After selling this business to Xerox, Smith undertook the role of VP and General Manager of Xerox Mortgage Services. Today, Smith is the president of Blue Vista Ventures, LLC, a company specializing in the investments of early-stage and start-up technology companies. Smith was credited with leading change within the mortgage industry to drive paper out of the process and lead the industry from an era of pure paper to an era of electronic mortgages. For his accomplishments, Smith was the recipient of the Steve Fraser Visionary Award in 2008, a lifetime achievement award in mortgage technology given by Mortgage Technology Magazine.

Since graduation, Smith has dedicated his time and treasures to helping move Clemson forward. He served as an inaugural member and the first chair of the Advisory Board for the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Founded in 1994, the Spiro Institute provides an educational and research program in entrepreneurship that contributes to the economic development of the region, state and nation. The focus is on wealth creation through entrepreneurial activity.

Smith is a valued mentor to Clemson students pursuing their own entrepreneurial dreams. Since 2015, he has volunteered his time to teach a non-paid entrepreneurship class at Clemson, “How to Start a Start-Up,” (ENTR 1090).  He led the effort to unite alumni from the various colleges at Clemson University to raise money and drive entrepreneurship initiatives through a program called Spiro Fellows. He is also an active member of the Clemson University Board of Visitors, is a major donor to the Clemson golf program and IPTAY and serves on the Golf Paws Advisory Board.

Smith and his wife, Carol, live in Alpharetta, Georgia and have three grown children, Aaron, Sarah Veach, and Audrey.