The Ohio Northern University T.J. Smull College of Engineering recently celebrated the career of Dr. Jed Marquart, BSME ’80, ahead of his upcoming retirement after more than 30 years of service to the university.
A native of Bluffton, Ohio, he has had a lifelong affinity for Northwest Ohio. After graduating from ONU, he worked in the engineering workforce and obtained graduate degrees from the University of Dayton. In 1991, he returned home and spent the next 33 years teaching at his beloved alma mater.
“People have always asked me, ‘Do you think about moving somewhere else?’ and I really never have,” Marquart said. “I’ve had people contact me about being a department chair at a different university or something, and I had no interest in going anywhere else.”
He said teaching at his beloved university was the perfect combination.
“I love teaching and knowing the university, knowing what the students were going to be like, knowing what their emphasis is on undergraduate education,” he said. “It was just the place to be. I really felt like God was really pointing me here, bringing me here.”
After 33 years, teaching remains his favorite part of the job, especially in a favorite concentration.
“I’ve been the advisor for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. I’ve seen a lot of students interested in aerospace engineering, and I’ve been able to provide that background for them. To see them go off and work in the aerospace industry and go on to grad school, that’s been exciting.”
Seeing the construction of the James L. Kennedy Engineering Building, and utilizing its thermal sciences lab with a research wind tunnel and operational jet engine, has also been a career highlight.
He leaves his students with one piece of professional wisdom:
“Number one, don’t look at just the money,” he said. “You know, big dollars can be attractive, but you’ve got to be happy going to work every day. So, if you get to the point where you are not happy with a job, it’s time to move to a different one. Don’t sit in, just waiting for retirement, putting up with a job.”
