Marriage Through the Challenges of Research
Northeastern University chemical engineering professors Abigail and Ryan Koppes stand in their Mugar Life Sciences lab. Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
The love story of how two Northeastern ChE faculty, Associate Professors Abigail and Ryan Koppes, met and fell in love, and how that love has influenced their work since.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Erin Kayata.
Work-life balance looks a little different for these married professors
Abby Koppes relocated to Boston when she was named the first future faculty fellow at Northeastern University in 2013. Two years later, her husband, Ryan Koppes, landed in the office right next to hers by coincidence.
“It doesn’t feel weird anymore because it’s been so organic,” Ryan Koppes told Northeastern Global News. “It has always felt natural.”
The two have been through a lot together over the years. There was the 11-hour-long heart surgery that Abby — Abby Eldridge at the time — underwent when she was 16 to fix a type of arrhythmia caused by abnormal electric activity in the heart. As Abby’s family waited in the hospital for most of the day, Ryan and some of his family members were there as well.
That was six months after the two, who had met as juniors on the ski racing team at the private Northfield Mount Hermon boarding school, began dating.
After graduating from Northfield Mount Herman in 2003, the couple moved to Troy, New York, where they received their bachelor’s, master’s and doctorates in biomedical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. After finishing their master’s degrees in 2010, they got married where it all began: their high school.
Looking back over their time together, and especially that early test of their relationship when she was in the hospital, Abby said she knew back then what she wanted in a life partner.
“Even as kids, we knew it was serious,” Abby said. “Seeing how supportive Ryan and his family were, even at such a young age, really stuck with me.”
Now, the married couple are members of the chemical and bioengineering faculty at Northeastern University.
Since 2015, the two have published a number of research papers together and received joint grants. This includes funding from the National Science Foundation, NASA and the National Institute of Health.
Read full story on Northeastern Global News