Remembering ASU physical chemist Andrew Chizmeshya
Andrew Chizmeshya on the Mogollon Rim. He and his family loved to camp out in the summers below the Rim on Christopher Creek. Photo courtesy of George Wolf
Andrew Chizmeshya, a computational chemist and materials scientist whose work spanned over three decades at Arizona State University, died on March 7 at the age of 63.
A dedicated mentor and cherished colleague, he taught hundreds of students at ASU while advancing research in high-pressure chemistry, computational materials discovery and environmental sustainability.
“Andrew was a valued member of the School of Molecular Sciences, making significant contributions to teaching, research and service,” said Tijana Rajh, professor and director of the School of Molecular Sciences. "As a superb computational chemist, he took great joy in collaborating with experimentalists to predict and rationalize new materials and their properties."
A life of discovery
Born and raised in Toronto, Chizmeshya earned his master's and doctorate from Queen's University in Canada before pursuing postdoctoral research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Engineering Laboratory.
In 1992, he and his wife, Andrea, with their first-born daughter, drove cross-country to Arizona in their old Chevrolet Monte Carlo — without air conditioning — just as ASU’s high-pressure materials research was gaining momentum.
Joining ASU’s Center for Solid State Science, he co-founded the DOE-funded Carbon Sequestration Research Group and played a key role in developing the Goldwater Materials Visualization Facility. In 2007, he became an associate professor, earning a reputation for both his intellectual depth and scientific rigor.
“Andrew was exceptionally gifted at applying all kinds of advanced computational methods to searching and exploring for new materials that might possess special physical properties,” said friend, colleague and emeritus professor William Petuskey. “His curiosity seemed boundless.”
Chizmeshya’s work spanned mineral-based carbon sequestration, semiconductor modeling and nanoscale materials design.
Kurt Leinenweber, research professor at the ASU Eyring Materials Center, said, “My best memories of Andrew were as a crystallographer and scientist. We were often in friendly competition, but the things he came up with were so brilliant that eventually, you just had to give in.”
“Andrew had a wonderful combination of a subtle sense of humor with a strong intellectual personality,” said colleague and professor Vladimiro Mujica. “We talked many times in his office and as members of university committees, especially evaluating our students. Andrew was an extraordinary colleague and friend.”
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Born and raised in Toronto, Chizmeshya earned his master's and doctorate degrees from Queen's University in Canada before pursuing postdoctoral research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Engineering Laboratory. He came to ASU in 1992 just as ASU’s high-pressure materials research was gaining momentum.
Photo courtesy ASU
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Joining ASU’s Center for Solid State Science, he co-founded the DOE-funded Carbon Sequestration Research Group and played a key role in developing the Goldwater Materials Visualization Facility. In 2007, he became an associate professor, earning a reputation for both his intellectual depth and scientific rigor.
Photo courtesy ASU
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Chizmeshya playing with The Moondogs at ASU Regents Professor Stuart Lindsay's oldest daughter’s wedding. A conservatory-trained musician, Chizmeshya played keyboard in the band and also performed Thursday nights in a local karaoke band at Cactus Jack’s Bar & Grill in Phoenix.
Photo courtesy Stuart Lindsay
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Chizmeshya (third from the right) was a beloved colleague during his time at ASU as a computational chemist and materials scientist. His work spanned mineral-based carbon sequestration, semiconductor modeling and nanoscale materials design.
Photo courtesy ASU
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Born and raised in Toronto, Chizmeshya earned his master's and doctorate degrees from Queen's University in Canada before pursuing postdoctoral research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Engineering Laboratory. He came to ASU in 1992 just as ASU’s high-pressure materials research was gaining momentum.
Photo courtesy ASU
-
Joining ASU’s Center for Solid State Science, he co-founded the DOE-funded Carbon Sequestration Research Group and played a key role in developing the Goldwater Materials Visualization Facility. In 2007, he became an associate professor, earning a reputation for both his intellectual depth and scientific rigor.
Photo courtesy ASU
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Chizmeshya playing with The Moondogs at ASU Regents Professor Stuart Lindsay's oldest daughter’s wedding. A conservatory-trained musician, Chizmeshya played keyboard in the band and also performed Thursday nights in a local karaoke band at Cactus Jack’s Bar & Grill in Phoenix.
Photo courtesy Stuart Lindsay
-
Chizmeshya (third from the right) was a beloved colleague during his time at ASU as a computational chemist and materials scientist. His work spanned mineral-based carbon sequestration, semiconductor modeling and nanoscale materials design.
Photo courtesy ASU
-
Born and raised in Toronto, Chizmeshya earned his master's and doctorate degrees from Queen's University in Canada before pursuing postdoctoral research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Engineering Laboratory. He came to ASU in 1992 just as ASU’s high-pressure materials research was gaining momentum.
Photo courtesy ASU
-
Joining ASU’s Center for Solid State Science, he co-founded the DOE-funded Carbon Sequestration Research Group and played a key role in developing the Goldwater Materials Visualization Facility. In 2007, he became an associate professor, earning a reputation for both his intellectual depth and scientific rigor.
Photo courtesy ASU
-
Chizmeshya playing with The Moondogs at ASU Regents Professor Stuart Lindsay's oldest daughter’s wedding. A conservatory-trained musician, Chizmeshya played keyboard in the band and also performed Thursday nights in a local karaoke band at Cactus Jack’s Bar & Grill in Phoenix.
Photo courtesy Stuart Lindsay
-
Chizmeshya (third from the right) was a beloved colleague during his time at ASU as a computational chemist and materials scientist. His work spanned mineral-based carbon sequestration, semiconductor modeling and nanoscale materials design.
Photo courtesy ASU
Playing life by ear
Beyond the lab, Chizmeshya was a passionate cook, golfer and musician. Whether brewing the perfect cup of coffee — meticulously refining each variable — or improvising on the keyboard, he approached life with the same curiosity that defined his research.
"Everything with Andrew was an experiment, a process of analysis and refinement," said his longtime friend and colleague Associate Professor George Wolf. “Just making coffee with him in his office, he spent weeks refining the ideal brewing temperature, the amount of coffee and the ratio of cream to coffee. Every morning he was excited for us to test his new procedure. Of course, I’ll never forget how good that coffee tasted. But it was his company that made it so special.”
“Andrew was such a joy to be with. You always felt important in his presence. It was such a special gift he had,” Wolf said.
A conservatory-trained musician, he played keyboard in The Moondogs, an ASU scientist band featuring physicists John Spence, Stuart Lindsay, John Page, Peter Bennett and Gary Adams. Chizmeshya also performed Thursday nights in a local karaoke band at Cactus Jack's Bar & Grill in Phoenix.
“Andrew was a musical genius,” said Lindsay, an ASU Regents Professor. “We played together until the pandemic. If he could pick an instrument up, he could play it. He was a brilliant, lovable, generous, kind and funny guy.”
That gift, his ability to play anything, was the subject of a remarkable story in his final months. As told by Lindsay:
After undergoing surgery for cancer, Chizmeshya suffered a stroke that left him in a rehabilitation hospital. A neurologist delivered the devastating news that the part of his brain responsible for music had been completely destroyed. Undeterred, Chizmeshya asked his wife, Andrea, to bring his guitar. When the neurologist visited again, Chizmeshya played flawlessly.
"You see," Chizmeshya told the doctor. "I see music in my visual cortex. The kids always ask how I can play anything on the first try, and it's because I just play back the visual patterns I see when I hear music."
Chizmeshya defied limits — whether in science, music or life itself.
He is survived by his wife and high school sweetheart of 45 years, Andrea, their three daughters, and two grandchildren, the newest of whom he had the joy of welcoming into the world.
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