Dec. 4, 1944 - Dec. 29, 2024
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Andy died as a result of dementia at the age of 80. Though born in Lone Pine, Calif., he was raised in the small potash mining town of Trona, Calif., in the Mojave Desert.
He was valedictorian of his graduating high school class and went on to college, first to the University of California at Davis where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering with top honors, and later with an Master of Science in applied science. He went on to Harvard where he earned an Master of Science in applied mathematics and to Dartmouth College where he got his Doctorate of Engineering. At Dartmouth, he learned system dynamics, a computer modeling discipline developed at MIT by Jay W. Forrester. He practiced this discipline for the rest of his career using his expertise to model a variety of systems in electric utilities, the environment and decision making. He was recognized in 1996 with the Jay Wright Forrester Award for an outstanding contribution to the field of system dynamics.
He was employed by Los Alamos National Laboratory for 10 years and then went on as a professor, first at the University of Southern California and then at Washington State University. He consulted for many companies and governments around the world, but his great love was teaching. He wrote a textbook, “Modeling the Environment,” still in use today. He was a wonderful mentor to his graduate students and stayed in touch with them long after his retirement.
His joy was his family. He met his wife, Amy Stone, in high school. They later married and had two daughters, Amanda McQuade and Emilee Powell, who both live in Grand Junction, Colo. He was so proud of their accomplishments and characters and very much liked and admired his sons-in-law. Amanda is married to Kyle McQuade and has three children: Lincoln, Madeline and Cameron. Emilee is married to Steven Powell and has two children: Phoenix and Archer. Andy adored his grandchildren and would play with them endlessly. He had a wonderful career and life with few regrets. He was valued as a colleague and friend, and adored as a husband, father, uncle and grandfather. He would say he could not ask for more.
In honor of Andy’s achievements, donations may be made to the Andrew Ford Memorial Travel Award at Washington State University at cas.wsu.edu/andrew-ford.
