John Nagy

Dr. Nagy was born in Dearborn, Michigan and grew up partially in the Detroit area (Taylor and Livonia) and partly in central Ohio (Worthington, just north of Columbus). Despite living in Ohio for nine years, he never learned to like cows. So he fled Ohio as soon as possible, going back to Michigan for college. In 1986 he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology with minors in conservation and literature from Eastern Michigan University and a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from The University of Michigan. (That’s not a mistake; both in the same year.) After finishing undergraduate work, Dr. Nagy worked for a short time for The University of Michigan doing forestry research in the beautiful Upper Peninsula. Later, he studied for a time at the University of Toronto. Tiring of walking down Spadina Ave. every day in the cold and wind, he moved to Arizona State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in mathematical biology in 1996.

At SCC, Dr. Nagy teaches General Biology for Majors (BIO 181) and runs the Biology Research Program. He has an active research lab with undergraduate members from both SCC and ASU and graduate students from ASU. He has mentored graduate students from ASU, the Technical University in Eindhoven (Netherlands) and University of Turku (Finland). His research focuses on evolutionary dynamics of disease. Details of his teaching and research activities are available at the following websites: Teaching Activities and Evolutionary Dynamics Lab

In addition to science, Dr. Nagy enjoys music and athletics. He ran track for EMU and U. of M. and continued to run for a time after his undergraduate career but never made it to national recognition. So, he decided to take that frustration out on other people and switched to ice hockey. Dr. Nagy plays percussion for the Scottsdale Concert Band, SCC Musical Theater, La Forza Chamber Orchestra and Salt River Brass.