Home Index
Colonel
John A. Christ
Permanent Professor 2015–2018
B.S., United States Air Force Academy
M.S., Air Force Institute of Technology
Ph.D., University of Michigan
John Christ, the Academy’s 93rd Permanent Professor, was born in Downey, California, in 1973. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1996 with a double major in Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering. He immediately entered the Air Force Institute of Technology, won the Commandant’s Award for best thesis, and earned a Master’s degree in Engineering and Environmental Management in 1998. He was then assigned as an Environmental Engineer, Environmental Flight, Civil Engineering Squadron, Minot AFB, ND. In 1999 he became the Chief of the Environmental Engineering Flight, Civil Engineering Squadron, Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, for five months. Returning to Minot in mid-1999, he was a Design Engineer and Chief of Construction Management in the Engineering Flight. In 2000 John was assigned as Chief, Plans and Programs, Engineering Flight, Civil Engineering Squadron, Osan Air Base, South Korea. He returned to the states in 2001 for five weeks to complete Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, AL. In 2002 he entered graduate school at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, was awarded their Distinguished Achievement Award, and earned his PhD in Environmental Engineering in 2005. John joined the AF Academy faculty in 2005 as an Assistant Professor and became Associate Professor, Deputy Department Head for Curriculum, and Faculty Development and Environmental Engineering Division Chief in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He spent two months in 2007 as Faculty Advisor, National Military Academy of Afghanistan, Kabul. He won the Frank J. Seiler Award for research excellence in 2007 and in 2008 was the department’s Outstanding Academy Educator. In 2008–2009 John again was assigned overseas for six months to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, as Construction Management Officer-Gulf Region, AF Forces/A7, Combined Air and Space Operations Center. He next moved to Poggio Renatico, Italy, for five months as Chief of Information Operations for the Combined Forces Air Component Command that executed Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR. The next seven months he spent as Branch Chief, Joint Military Air Cooperation, NATO Air Component Command, Izmir, Turkey. Returning to the Academy in 2012, John was promoted to Professor in 2014 and was Environmental Engineering Division Chief in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He was the USAFA Nominee for the US Professor of the Year Award in 2013. In 2014 he became the Director, Commander’s Action Group for the Academy Superintendent. John became Permanent Professor and Head, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2015, engaging cadets in challenging courses that are complemented by hands-on experiences in surveying as well as construction methods and materials at the 50-acre Field Engineering and Readiness Laboratory. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Colorado. John retired in 2018.