Her legacy runs through countless Buckeye engineers
Professor Ann Christy ’83, ’85 MS built programs, championed students and helped redefine how engineering is taught at Ohio State.
The impact of Ann Christy ’83, ’85 MS begins with Ohio State’s College of Engineering and extends around the country with the ongoing accomplishments of her students.
“Her students were everything to Ann,” says her wife, Nancy Snyder. “She saw her students as whole people, and her greatest joy and achievement was ushering them from freshmen to seniors who could walk out into the world and be empowered to make a contribution and succeed in life.”
Christy, 63, who died Oct. 3, helped create and was the initial interim chairperson for the Department of Engineering Education, which develops innovative and new multidisciplinary courses. She was associate dean and director for academic programs in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, as well as a professor of food, agricultural and biological engineering and a professor of engineering education.
She helped establish the Engineering Education PhD program and was an integral part of the campuswide switch from quarters to semesters as a faculty fellow in the Office of Academic Affairs. Christy also was a fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education and the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. She published 145 peer-reviewed papers.
“In her heart, she believed engineering education and creating and mentoring the next generation of engineers was the highest calling a person could have,” says David Tomasko, associate dean for academic programs and student services in the College of Engineering and professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. “Ann wasn’t an extrovert, but she was always welcoming of everybody, and she always made sure everybody was included. Her only fault was an inability to say no when someone asked her to do something that interested her—and she had many, many interests.”
Robert Gustafson, a professor emeritus in the College of Engineering, led the committee that hired Christy in the mid-1990s. “She was working for a consulting firm and had wonderful credentials,” he says. “We could see she was student-focused. … Ann was somewhat quiet and reserved, but she was easy to talk to and was especially good at talking to our students.”
Christy had a whimsical, fun side and numerous interests outside engineering. She was a fedora-wearing Star Wars fanatic and gaming nerd who collected model trains, strummed on her guitar, wrote parody songs and meditated daily.
Christy and Snyder first met in church soon after Christy accepted her position at Ohio State. Or so they thought. When they began talking more, they realized they had spoken on the telephone, numerous times. “I had been with the National Groundwater Association as a librarian, and Ann would call in, quite frequently, for data on the latest spills and cleanups,” Snyder says.
She was immediately impressed with Christy’s compassion for and desire to help others. “Her sister was developmentally disabled, and Ann eventually became her guardian,” Snyder says. “I think, because of this, from a young age, she was determined to help others. She was respectful and kind and considerate of everyone she met.”
