Prof. Ross Nord Retires

Prof. Ross Nord retired in August of 2021 after 35 years at EMU. Dr. Nord earned his Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry from Iowa State University. A popular instructor at both the undergraduate and graduate level who won several awards in teaching including both Honors Faculty of the Year and the Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Faculty Award (Teaching II), his sections of General chemistry and Physical chemistry were often the first to fill. Ross was involved in the university’s recent Gateways to Completion initiative to improve student success and retention in traditionally difficult gateway courses such as General chemistry, and he also wrote many of our General chemistry laboratory experiments (he also carefully reworked those experiments during the pandemic when distancing limited on-campus lab time, so that the training of essential hands-on techniques would be retained and that students’ education would not suffer as they moved on to more advanced labs that built on those skills). He wrote and instituted our Prelab computer program, giving students practice calculations before each lab so that they could be prepared about what to expect. In addition, he mentored undergraduate research students in theoretical Physical chemistry, with several writing Honors theses. Having served on every department committee as well as many in the college and university, and as both AAUP steward and then Department Head for several years (shepherding the department through the construction and renovation of Mark Jefferson), Dr. Nord contributed immeasurably to the department and to EMU. Always going above and beyond (and as a data guru), Ross monitored enrollment and other trends, helped with complexities of scheduling, and maintained the department’s website. He authored many of our department’s governing documents and our advising literature including the popular flow charts, all things that help us offer the best possible learning environment to our students. And whenever anyone in the department had a question or needed insight, Ross was always the first and primary source of advice, which could always be counted on to be thoughtful, comprehensive, and wise.