Dear Nagy Family,

Tibor was a generous mentor and colleague. His guidance was indispensable as I was first learning how to teach when I first arrived at MSU. He was more patient with me than I deserved as he taught me how to work the demos (which I was never able to perform as well as him) as well as how to set up a tablet to work out examples for the students. I now follow his example and proactively support new instructors in our department as they navigate what can be a very challenging system. He was beloved by those students who were paying attention and therefore understood his playful sense of humor as well as his deliberate and layered approach to instruction. It is difficult to imagine the MSU Physics and Astronomy Department without him - Tibor will be missed. My condolences to y'all during these challenging times. 

-Jaideep Taggart Singh

Tibor's untimely death at such an young age is a shock to me. I have known Tibor since 1996-97 when he was a student in my Statistical Mechanics Special topics course. A famous statistical mechanics physicist from Brazil, Constantino Tsallis, was a guest lecturer in my class. Tibot was clearly the best student in that class. An interesting problem came up, three of us worked on it (mainly Tibor) and we wrote a paper. I was thrilled when he asked me to be his Ph. D. advisor. He worked on several interesting problems dealing with the structure of micro and nanoporus media and wrote his thesis in 2000. He could have easily gone to a postdoctoral position and then to a research/teaching career. Somehow he loved  teaching very much and was asked by Prof. Ed Kashy ( a very well know nuclear physicist and excellent teacher) to join him in developing new teaching methods. He continued here at Michigan State as one of our outstanding teachers. 
Tibor was an extremely nice, kind, and helpful man. I will miss him a lot.
S. D. Mahanti
Professor Emeritus
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Michigan State University

I want to give a thank you to Tibor for many patient conversations when I was a brand new faculty member with a small baby at home. Thank you for excellent training on demos and for being always happy to lend a hand. He is missed. My love and support to all of you in this trying time.

I remember Tibor as the kindest spirit.  His greatest work priority was how to improve our teaching for the students.  He will be missed greatly.  Rest in peace, my friend.

Stephanie, Katy, Sarah, 
Very sorry to hear that your Tibor/Dad has passed. No need to tell you what a great man he was. I can tell you as a co-worker of his at MSU he loved all of you, and whenever he spoke of any "goings-on" at home, his eyes would light up just speaking of you all. He was the funniest man I have ever met. His jokes of his time spent in the Hungarian Army still make me smile and laugh out loud. He had a brilliant mind, and did enjoy teaching Physics to all the future Physicists, Doctors, Engineers, Nurses, and anyone else who were lucky enough to have him as a teacher of Physics. He taught me much about gardening (he was a pepper expert, saving the seeds for next year!), and the chestnut tree he gave me in the yard will forever be known as "Tibor's Tree". The obituary you wrote for him is spot on, in particular his love of animals. I had lent him a trap to catch "something" that was churning up his garden each night. Each time he would catch an animal, he would find a new home for it instead of "dispatching it".  The time I remember most was the skunk. I offered him a gun to dispatch it so as to avoid being sprayed...oh no, that was not going to happen. He walked up to the caged skunk, placed a blanket over the cage, put the cage into the hatchback of his Saturn, drove it to a new home and released it, without ever getting sprayed. Animals loved him too. Rest in Peace Tibor.

Our memory with Tibor, he took one for the team by taking Kate and Dominic on the rides at the Hot Air Balloon Festival in 2013. It was such a fun day. 

Kate and Sarah,  my heart goes out to you. Speaking with your Mom, your last days with your Dad were a beautiful testimony to the strong bond your family has. Stay close always and know your Dad’s legacy lives on, in and through you. 

Stephanie, my love and prayers go out to you and the girls. Thank you for sharing Tibor’s story. It was an honor to know him.  You are truly an inspiration with the strength and support you’ve had for the four of you during these last few months, and it is evident that two were blessed to share your lives together.

When I think of Tibor, I think of the time he and I went to see AC/DC at the Palace of Auburn Hills in  2016. We were able to go backstage prior to the show and see all the amplifiers, cannons and all the other gear used for the concert. We even got a chance to touch Angus Young's guitar! We had a great time and shared something unforgettable.

Tibor Nagy was a joy to know

I first worked with Tibor when he was a graduate teaching assistant (TA) charged with helping me in an introductory lab course. Even though Tibor earned his PhD as a theorist and not as an experimentalist, Tibor was very comfortable teaching our lab course and I was very glad to work with him. I was also lucky to have him that term because my appendix burst on the day before our labs met. In desperation, I asked Tibor take over my course while I was in the hospital. Tibor said, “No problem”, and he made sure there was no problem. 

That was the first of many courses I taught with Tibor. Tibor’s skill in the classroom and his approach to the challenges of teaching made it fun to work with him. I really enjoyed Tibor’s sense of humor, especially as it related to physics and to the teaching of physics. His humor was well manifested in the classroom, where it was marked by kindness. He focused on comments, jokes, and videos that offered a comic take on common physics misunderstandings. They were always really funny. Tibor never chose videos that ridiculed conceptual mistakes. His goal was to make both students and instructors laugh together but not laugh at each other. Tibor did occasionally poke fun at himself, which the students really enjoyed.

I offer my condolences to his family on his untimely loss. We will miss him.

OBITUARY

Tibor Ferenc Nagy

March 19, 1966 – June 19, 2025

Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes

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