Christopher Mondy
I am originally from the St. Louis metro east area, and I did my undergraduate and MBA at McKendree University in Lebanon, IL. I worked in procurement and sales while doing my MBA, but when I finished, I got to teach an undergraduate class in statistics for the first time, and I was hooked. I returned to school and earned my PhD in Logistics, Operations, and Supply Chain Management at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. I think it is funny that I work in the analytics and statistics field because I wouldn’t say I liked mathematics when I was younger. Now I believe that things like statistics are interesting! Before joining Olin, I worked as a visiting assistant professor of Operations Management at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond (a suburb of Oklahoma City), and I have also worked at McKendree, Fontbonne, and SIUE in the St. Louis area in part-time instructional capacities. I try to learn things from all of my students and from each institution I work at, and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to work with such outstanding students, fellow faculty, and administrators so far.
Outside of Olin I enjoy a pretty wide variety of activities. I love to travel and I have a pair of sneakers in a display case in my office that I wore when climbing the steps of the Parthenon in Athens. Visitors often ask about them and I think it’s a fun story to tell. They stood where the university system in the west started! I enjoy aviation, and I am a private-rated airplane pilot (meaning I can fly without getting paid) – I am working on my commercial rating in hopes of getting an instructor certificate so that I can teach new pilots one day. I enjoy sports cars and motorcycles, and this year I am the lead organizer in St. Louis for a charity motorcycle ride called the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, which raises funds and awareness for men’s health issues. I decided to take some sailing lessons a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it, and I play guitar in a rock band. I have a cat named Cheerio mentioned in my dissertation’s thank you’s and dedications.
Left picture, taking my American Sailing Association class, above, landing after a “bombing run” at St. Charles Flying Service’s pumpkin drop competition (These are a fundraiser for some small airports where you pay an entry fee and get three pumpkins. Pilots fly in pairs, one flying and the other serving as a “bombardier.” You get three passes over a target – SCFS uses an old wrecked car – and the bombardier opens the window and throws a pumpkin out during each pass to try and hit the target. The team with the lowest overall score is measured by distance from target wins