Doug Barraza

Student recreation and wellness is Doug’s specialty, further strengthening SmithGroup’s role as a national leader in collegiate recreation facilities. “Our primary objective should be to provide a positive experience for students that enhances their overall sense of wellbeing, while also providing a solid foundation for healthy life decisions after their college experience,” he believes.  Doug’s father was a structural engineer, with an interest in design, working on large projects around the world; the family emigrated to the U.S. from Colombia when Doug was just two. “A career in architecture allowed me to connect to my family’s international background, and also explore cultures and experiences that were beyond the boundaries of my immediate suburban Denver neighborhood,” he remarks.  Doug also discovered the joys of recreation in Colorado, and regularly takes to the mountains to ski, hike and mountain bike —a lifestyle, he says, “that connects me to the outdoors and my sense of wellbeing.”