As a colleague of Annetta's, I celebrate her life as an articulate and respected scholar, dedicated educator, warm and insightful colleague, and fellow Sardian. I will always remember the wonderful Firing the Canon exhibition of Cornell's casts in the old Chilled Water Plant, the germ of which involved some speculative drawing by my landscape architecture students, whom she and Verity encouraged and later kindly invited to the opening to see the fully realized, striking exhibition.
Ten years ago, Annetta was quietly instrumental in establishing the Casa della Regina Carolina Excavations at Pompeii, when she invited her colleague and former Director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, Massimo Ossano, to speak at Cornell, arranging for him to have lunch at the Statler with Caitie Barrett, Kaja Tally-Schumacher, and me to establish a project in the city where we could undertake modern stratigraphic excavations. She will be much in our thoughts this season as her students, past and present, return for a seventh season.
The Finger Lakes Chapter of the Archaeological Institute of America is deeply grateful to Annetta for her nine years as president (2010-2019). Thoughtfully choosing and warmly hosting two national speakers each year, she celebrated their accomplishments in her generous introductions and made their visits to Cornell memorable to speakers, colleagues, students, and local AIA members alike. She passed the baton on to me just as COVID set in and was a great support as I learned the role while navigating the challenges and opportunities of hosting our speakers digitally. She remained, in effect, an active "past President" and advisor until this past fall.
My deepest condolences to Michael Morris, her students and colleagues at Cornell and to the many who are mourning her death internationally.
Sorrowfully,
Kathy
Kathryn Gleason
Graduate School Professor/CIAMS
Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture
Annetta was an incredible teacher, mentor, and supporter of my work, and working on the cast collection with her and Verity remain cherished memories from my time at Cornell.
Carlos Kong
I’m so grateful I got to share time with Annetta. As a first year PhD student at Cornell, I took a graduate seminar she was offering on sexuality and gender in ancient Greece, and it was transformative – not just the range of content and readings, or the impressive way that Annetta handled difficult theoretical material, but the introduction to a kind of teaching that treated students as colleagues. She was welcoming but expected real work; she had high standards, which she laughed about as just being German, but which have stuck with me as I’ve learned how to be a teacher. She expected a lot from us because she respected us and pushed us to leave comfort zones to grapple with challenging ideas. At a time when the Cornell Classics community was overwhelmingly male and senior, Annetta was a real mentor and I took so much from our conversations, more than I think I realized. When she asked me to proofread a chapter of hers, it meant so much to me as a student just starting out. I really enjoyed every meeting with her, her warmth and ability to listen, and was always so happy to run into her at conferences. I send my sincere condolences to her family and community, to her friends and colleagues at Cornell and elsewhere, and to the many students, like me, who found their voice with her.
Katie Kearns
I’m saddened to hear of her passing.
I appreciated Professor Alexandridis. I will remember her stacks and stacks of books and warm, helpful personality. She will be missed.
Caleb Straayer
I was a student of Professor Alexandridis in her CLASS 3741 Greco-Roman Art class.
Professor Alexandridis has been my advisor in the Art History department. I transferred from the Fine Art major to Art History, and she was the first professor I ever met in the field.
At the time, I reached out to her because I wanted to learn more about the major and the transfer process, and she kindly agreed to meet with me. During our first meeting, she was incredibly genuine and generous, sharing thoughtful advice about studying art history, study abroad programs, and internships. She even connected me with another Art History student who helped me gain further insight. After I officially transferred, she became my advisor.
A few months later, I reached out again to update her on my progress, and we met on Zoom. That was when I first learned that she was on sick leave. To this day, I am deeply touched that, even while dealing with her health, she still chose to meet with me and offer such sincere guidance and support. I am truly grateful for everything she has done for her students, not only as a professor but also as a dedicated mentor.
I was able to take one of her classes in Fall 2025, although I had to drop it due to a scheduling conflict. Even so, I deeply appreciated her commitment to teaching, especially during such a difficult time. I was very saddened to hear the news, and since I was on a gap semester working in Hong Kong, I was not able to be there. But Professor Alexandridis was truly the first person who supported me on my path in Art History and made me feel the warmth of the department. I sincerely hope she will always be remembered.
Amy Wang
I am a PhD candidate in the Art History department, and Annetta was one of the three professors in my committee. I also TA'ed for her and was her student in seminars. I will immensely miss her - she accompanied my doctoral journey from the very beginning, and was a mentor in the true sense of the word. I wanted to share with everyone how she had a great sense of humor and was always willing to listen to my various research ideas, regardless of what they were or if she thought they were good or not. She encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone in my papers and dissertation, and gave me some of the most detailed and useful feedback I ever received.
When I TA'ed for her I could tell how dedicated and passionate she was about teaching, and how much she cared for her students. I will never forget this one time when, at the end of the semester, she brought me cookies and we sat down and graded exams together until 1 am in my office. Or when we she took me and other students to the Met and the Corning Museum. She was so incredibly generous, and I owe her so much. Her absence leaves a void that is difficult to face. I will always cherish the memories I have from the time we spent together, and I will keep saying to everyone how important she was and will forever be in my life.
Priscila Dantas de Moraes - PhD candidate in the Art History Department
I was fortunate to take a course with Professor Alexandridis last semester (Fall 2025) called “Cornell’s Collection of Roman and Greek Art.” As a PhD student in the History of Art & Visual Studies, I also knew Professor Alexandridis from lectures and department meetings, where she was an unfailingly warm and engaged presence.
One of the goals for the class was researching artefacts and piecing together how they made it to Cornell’s Material Culture Lab. We all became particularly invested in a label found in a shoe box full of unidentified pottery sherds and… seashells. Throughout the semester, we would routinely come back to this label to try to decipher the words, hoping it would help us better understand the objects. The course ended, and we were forced to move on, but not Professor Alexandridis! During winter break, we received a note from her with the subject “mystery word.” It read: “Dear all, even though the term is over, here is a report from the trenches as I am reading your papers (thoroughly enjoying them; you have enriched the history of this collection and its objects SO much!). I think the mystery word on the tag from Grace's box reads : "periods" ("important for fixing periods of late Roman habitation of site"). I have come to this conclusion by carefully comparing Waage's letters and thinking of what would make sense. The last letter looks a bit like an "e", but I think he first wrote "period" and then squeezed in the "s" which he then could not fully develop... So, nothing sensational, but I hope we can "close a gap" (as Steven put it in his paper) - this conundrum has cost me sleepless nights :) All my best and enjoy the holidays
Annetta Alexandridis” To me, this note encapsulates how fun, smart, generous, and kind Professor Alexandridis was. I feel so lucky to have known her and learned from her. She will be sorely missed.
Anne-Solène Bayan
I first met Annetta at the Graduate Methods Seminar in the first year of my PhD. I would see her often at department talks, and though we weren’t close, she once offered me a place to stay in Berlin if I needed it for research. I was struck by her generosity, kindness, and warmth. I always appreciated how present she was in conversation whenever I ran into her at the art history gallery. She will be missed.
Eric Goh
I didn't get the chance to know Annetta very well, but I was so fortunate to get the chance to take a class with her.
I remember no matter what I wanted to do, even in emails, she would respond with 'super!' and if we were in person, that would be accompanied with a big smile. I've never met someoene so passionate about archival work, and her enthusiasm was infectious, it made me care about it too.
She was so determined to record everything we were able to find about the Cornell teaching collection, and by god, she did!
She was so passionate about her students, you could tell this was what she really loved. It is my hope that we are able to carry on her memory through our work.
Nicole Romero
I had the honor of taking Archaeology of Rome with Professor Alexandridis in the fall semester of 2025.
Professor Alexandridis always came, incredibly well prepared, to share her passion for architecture and history. She did not just teach us the material but also imparted her joyous energy and love of learning. My research paper for the class heavily focused on economics, and even though it fell out of her domain, she still gave incredible feedback and support throughout the process. Her love of learning translated into a classroom where we could feel the history come alive, from the busy taberna to the stately villa or the imposing Pantheon.
Professor Alexendridis stands as an incredible example and inspiration to us all.
I pray the Lord shall grant her eternal rest and be with her family and loved ones. Amen.
Thomas Riveros
I feel incredibly fortunate to have had Professor Alexandridis not only as my teacher, but also as my mentor. I will always remember the care she brought to both her scholarship and her students.
Though years have passed since I was last in her classroom, I continue to think of her for the way she saw me as an individual and as an artist. I especially remember our work together on the curated show Casts and their Discontents, which remains deeply meaningful to me. She encouraged me to push myself in ways that have stayed with me ever since.
It was because of her guidance and support that I pursued a post doc study at the University of Cambridge, and I still carry the plans I once made to visit her in Germany and go together to the Outsider Art Museum.
She will be deeply missed, and remembered with profound gratitude and affection.
Cecilia Cascella
I met Professor Alexandridis in the fall of 2025. In July of that same year, I saw the posting for her class “Cornell’s Collection of Greek and Roman Art,” and I instantly reached out to her to enroll (on the first day of class, she teased me for being the first person to email her about enrolling). At this time, I didn’t know how much of an influence Annetta would have on me as a student, thinker, and person. I was instantly excited by the critical and curious eye that she brought to the incredibly fraught collection of antiquities at Cornell, and I asked her to supervise me on an undergraduate thesis project; at the time I was on the fence about whether I wanted to do one or not, but seeing someone so excited about their work inspired me and made me want to learn from her. Even though I did not know her for long, having Annetta as a mentor in these contexts has made an invaluable impression on me, and I am so grateful for her generosity of time, thought, conversation, and endless reading recommendations. She was truly the most giving person, always giving my classmates and I as much attention and thoughtfulness as she could, even as she was juggling teaching in Ithaca with treatment in New York. She was the most caring, curious mentor I had at Cornell, and she made the experience of working with her not just an assignment, but an exchange of knowledge; I felt so supported by her. My experience as her student is not singular; it was clear that every current or former student of hers that I have spoken with always had similar praises to sing, and similar stories to share. She had an invaluable impact on the student body here at Cornell, and she is incredibly missed.
Grace Zahm
