Andrew Vincent Chizmeshya

Andrew was born on April 26th in Toronto, Ontario to Vincent and Carolyn Chizmeshya. From an early age, he displayed a deep love for music, science, mathematics, and lifelong learning. He shared many childhood adventures with his brother, Gord, exploring the neighborhoods of Toronto and making mischief. With a guitar always in hand, he was known for serenading friends and charming audiences at high school parties. Through those parties, he met Andrea, the love of his life.

Andrew graduated from Queens university with a PhD in theoretical physics. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the U.S. Department of Energy that moved his young family from Canada to Arizona, he joined Arizona State University as a research scientist, helping establish the Goldwater Materials Visualization Facility and co-founding the DOE-funded Carbon Sequestration Research Group. Andrew spent much of his career as an Associate Professor at ASU’s School of Molecular Sciences, educating graduate and undergraduate students and researching computational physical chemistry and materials science.

Andrew may have shown a discipline and aptitude for math and science to the world but at home, he was known for his everlasting curiosity, and love of music and cooking. If he wasn’t playing music himself, he was listening to it while cooking a delicious meal for his family and friends.

Andrew was actively involved in the musical community. What started as a strict practice of piano with the Royal Conservatory of Music, blossomed into a lifelong love of music in many forms - guitar, piano, and trombone to name a few. Andrew could pick up almost any instrument or hear any tune and be able to play it on the fly. He said when he heard music he didn’t see notes but colors and shapes. He leveraged this special skill to be a band member in the Moondoggies, Rock-a-Rokie, Zeppapotapuss, The Santini Brothers, and various country-music shows across the valley.

Andrew is survived by his wife Andrea, his daughters Vanessa, Amy, and Rebecca, his granddaughters Mara and Angelina and his brother Gord. He was preceded in death by his grandmother Eta Sert, his father Vincent, and his mother Carolyn.