Dr. Christine Copper has been on the faculty at the Naval Academy since 1995.
She has won the USNA Superintendent's Civilian Faculty Award for Excellence in Service, the USNA Class of 1958 Admiral Charles R. Larson Ethical Leadership Excellence Award, the USNA Class of 1951 Civilian Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, and a US Navy Superior Civilian Service Award.
She became Navy’s Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) in 2008. She currently serves on the Naval Academy Athletic Association Board of Control, the Patriot League Policy Committee, the American Conference FAR committee. Her extensive NCAA governance service includes being the first FAR on the NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors, serving on the DI Council, the DI Student-Athlete Experience Committee, the DI Sport Oversight Committee, as the FAR liaison to the Division I SAAC, and as the President of the NCAA’s Faculty Athletics Representative Association. Professor Copper also holds a leadership role on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.
Professor Copper grew up outside of Philadelphia, Pa. and earned a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Mary Washington (UMW) in Fredericksburg, Va. in 1991. At UMW, she was a three-time All-American tennis player and member of two national championship teams. She is a member of the UMW Athletic Hall of Fame. Upon graduating from UMW, she attended the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., where, in 1995, she earned PhD in analytical chemistry prior to accepting a faculty appointment at Navy.
She resides in Annapolis with her husband, Jim Shaughnessy.
