In Memoriam: Christopher G. Levey

A scientist with a passion for creating community around teaching and learning, Emeritus Professor Christopher G. Levey died from prostate cancer on September 24, 2024. 

Throughout his 39-year career at Dartmouth, Levey was instrumental in embedding a project-based learning approach into engineering through space design and curriculum development. “Chris was a true believer in Thayer’s unique blend of excellence in hands-on education, meaningful research, and societal impact,” says Douglas Van Citters ’99 Th’03 Th’06, Thayer interim dean. “He was an active materials scientist, he developed and delivered courses, he was foundational in establishing our microfabrication laboratories, and he was a physical presence in virtually every class in the curriculum with a laboratory or a project.” 

The director of Thayer’s microfabrication lab, Levey advocated for more physical facilities to further integration across engineering and scientific disciplines. “We have the right people and the right ideas but not the right places,” said Levey, who subsequently took on a central role in the development of the MacLean Engineering Sciences Center, which opened in 2006 with a glass-walled atrium providing a window—literally and figuratively—into Dartmouth Engineering’s state-of-the-art project labs. The number of engineering majors soared, and Dartmouth responded by doubling Thayer lab space in 2019 and again in 2022, with Levey guiding their designs. “The instrument room, the machine shop, the materials lab, the microscopy labs, and even our new classroom designs were heavily influenced by Levey’s thoughtful approach to teaching engineering through doing engineering,” says Van Citters. 

He developed integrated lab experiences to encourage broad understanding of complex problems and collaboration across disciplines. Within his own team, Levey earned international recognition for the world’s smallest untethered mobile robot, smaller than the period at the end of a sentence. His efforts in the classroom and laboratory—including as a sponsor of research projects through the Women in Science Project—earned him Thayer’s Outstanding Faculty Service Award in 2000, 2003, and 2019. 

He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Barbara DeFelice, and their son, Nacio.