Melissa M. Schultz

Born in St. Paul, Schultz received a B.S. in chemistry from Creighton University in Omaha in 1999 and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry at Oregon State University in 2004. She then accepted a two-year National Research Council postdoctoral appointment from the U.S. Geological Survey at the National Water Quality Laboratory in Denver.

Schultz joined the Wooster chemistry faculty as an assistant professor in 2006 and became an associate professor in 2012. She was known as a motivating teacher and innovative researcher who focused on the impact of antidepressants in the water supply.

She was a member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry and ACS, which she joined in 2003.

Schultz was engaged in community activities in which she inspired young people, especially girls, to study science.

Her friends and family will remember her for her Christian principles, vibrant personality, and the strength she exhibited as she successfully fought breast cancer in 2014. She was a member of St. Mary Catholic Church and an avid runner, reader, and nature enthusiast, but her greatest joy was her family.

A memorial service for Schultz will be held on April 25 at 1:30 PM at Freedlander Theatre on the Wooster campus.

Schultz is survived by her husband, Brett Wright, whom she married in 2005, and her children, Lila, Teddy, and Leo.