Earlier this month Otterbein students and faculty were saddened to hear the news that Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, Dr. Chris Reynolds has passed away, after a fight with cancer. After a 34-year career at Otterbein University, Dr. Reynolds has been awarded Faculty Emerita status from the board of trustees.
Many students and faculty members that were close to her morn her passing. Erin Sites Ensign, from Otterbein’s graduating class of 2008, worked closely with Dr. Reynolds in her time at Otterbein and remembers her as a “force of nature.”
“She had the energy to fill a room, her smile her presence, and her love of the people in the room,” says Sites Ensign.
Sites Ensign had Dr. Reynolds as a professor in her 8:00 a.m. persuasion class, and she says even though this class wouldn’t typically be any college student’s favorite class, Dr. Reynolds made an environment where students wanted to be there.
“She got to know us on a personal level, and I feel like a lot of the professors did that, but she just made you laugh, and she made you feel comfortable even when you were talking about the future and serious things going on in the world,” says Sites Ensign.
Dr. Reynolds would even invite students to her house for dinner as “honored guests,” says Sites Ensign.
Mike Wagner, a former colleague of Dr. Reynolds, says she was a powerful figure on Otterbein's campus, specifically for the communications department. He relates Dr. Reynolds to the quote in the movie "A Few Good Men," where Colonial Nathan R. Jessep says "you want me on that wall-- you need me on that wall!"
"That's who Chris was for the comms department. She was not afraid to go up and, you know, fight for whether it was money or personnel or whatever we needed," says Wagner.
Wagner remembers many instances where Dr. Reynolds was a supportive figure for him, personally. He says she was someone who students and faculty could go to for tough love and guidance.
"She was just a kind human who was compassionate and really got people," says Wagner.
Dr. Chris Reynolds will be missed by many, including her husband John Reynolds, and her daughter Ryan Reynolds, along with many members of the Otterbein community and beyond.
