Growing up Raiders

The Bambakidis family celebrates Nicholas Bambakidis on receiving the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, 2025. (Photo by Erin Pence)

By Anthony Shoemaker ’98

For the Bambakidis family, Wright State University was never just a workplace or a campus. It was where evenings were spent in lecture halls watching movies, weekends meant basketball games and nachos, and three brothers grew up knowing exactly where they would go to college long before they filled out an application.

Three decades later, those brothers are alumni. So are their wives. And now, so are other family members.

The Bambakidis family’s story is one of Greek immigrants who put down roots in Fairborn and found not just opportunity at Wright State, but a second home.

Known as Dr. B to his students, Gust Bambakidis, Ph.D., built a long career in the university’s Department of Physics, eventually serving as chair before retiring in 2007.

While Gust built his academic career, his wife, Elli, took her own educational path at Wright State, earning a bachelor’s degree in Greek in 1979 and a master’s degree in history in 1983 before building her own career as an archivist focused on Dayton history at the Dayton Metro Library.

Gust worked in Paris and for NASA in California before landing at Wright State.

“He was always in the applied field of physics, but he knew he wanted to be in academia, and when the position came up at Wright State, he knew he wanted to be back in Ohio,” said his son Steven Bambakidis ’95.

Gust and Elli Bambakidis, around 2015. (Courtesy of the Bambakidis family)

‘We Grew Up at Wright State’

For their sons, Wright State was part of childhood long before it was a college choice.

Nick Bambakidis ’93, M.D., remembers being on campus as early as elementary school, attending basketball games and campus events with his family.

“We were going to games and eating nachos in the third grade,” Nick said.

With three boys at home, the university offered a steady stream of affordable — often free — entertainment. The family regularly attended Raider basketball games in the old Physical Education Building, where the atmosphere left a lasting impression.

Gust Bambakidis in his office in the Department of Physics in Fawcett Hall, 1978. (Courtesy of the Bambakidis family)

“I loved that P/E building. It was fantastic,” Nick said.

Evan Bambakidis ’04 traces his early connection to those same experiences.

“A lot of our initial love for Wright State comes from exposure to the sports program, in particular basketball,” he said.

Campus life extended well beyond athletics. Gust often brought his sons to evening classes, his office in Fawcett Hall or movie screenings.

“He would take us to watch some terrible print of ‘Star Wars’ that would break, and they’d have to tape it up in the middle of it,” Steve recalled.

The boys attended department picnics, spent time in lecture halls and followed their parents’ routines. Wright State wasn’t separate from home life — it was woven into it.

“We just grew up going there,” Steve said. “My parents’ life kind of revolved around their church community and my dad’s work community.”

By high school, the path forward felt obvious. Cost played a role — tuition remission and proximity made Wright State practical — but familiarity mattered just as much.

“For us it was just kind of a foregone conclusion,” Steve said.

Nick followed in his father’s footsteps and enrolled as a physics major. The department quickly became its own kind of family.

Nicholas Bambakidis at Fairborn High School Graduation Ceremony on Wright State’s campus, 1989. (Courtesy of the Bambakidis family)

“I set up the labs as kind of a part-time job for the other undergraduate students,” Nick said. “And we would always study together, up there in Fawcett Hall.”

It was also where he met his wife, Kimberly, a fellow physics student. Nearly 30 years later, that connection remains one of the most lasting outcomes of his time on campus.

Like his brothers, Steve lived at home while attending Wright State, focusing much of his time on music. He performed in the pep band, jazz band and gospel choir, while also working behind the scenes at the Nutter Center.

The job gave him access to concerts, major events and touring acts — a different kind of classroom that expanded his experience beyond academics.

“I would just get to go hang out at the Nutter Center and see them set up all their gear,” he said.

Jenny Bambakidis at commencement. (Courtesy of the Bambakidis family)

Like Nick, Steve met his wife, Jenny ’96, in the Department of Physics.

“The best thing that happened to me at Wright State was meeting my wife there,” Steve said.

Evan, the youngest, followed the same path, rotating through the family’s in-law suite as each brother moved out. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, completing the trio of Wright State graduates in the family.

Through it all, their parents remained a constant presence on campus — a dynamic that made their college experience different from most.

“Most students go to college to get away from their parents,” Nick said. “They were always there.”

Where Are They Now?

After graduating with a degree in physics, Nick initially pursued graduate studies in the field before shifting his focus to medicine.

“I like taking care of critically sick people,” he said.

He earned his medical degree from Case Western Reserve University and completed neurosurgical training there, followed by a fellowship in cerebrovascular surgery. His career has since included leadership roles in both clinical practice and academic medicine.

Now director and vice president of the Neurological Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, he has authored nearly 100 publications, edited multiple textbooks and served as president of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

The family reunited at Wright State in 2025 when Nick was honored with the university’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Nicholas Bambakidis was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, 2025. (Photo by Erin Pence)

Steve and Jenny now live in Portland, Oregon. He works in information technology for a national nonprofit focused on whole child health and serves as a clergyman in a Greek Orthodox church.

Their path has taken them across the country, including time in Alaska and Florida, but Wright State remains a defining chapter.

Evan and his wife, Stacy, stayed closest to home. He works at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where his father’s legacy still resonates.

“I had multiple people come up to me when I first got here and say, ‘Are you Dr. B’s son?’” Evan said. “One told me a memory that just made me laugh because it is so my dad. ‘One time, your dad took up all three chalkboards in the room to explain one problem.’”

That kind of impact continues to shape how the family views Wright State.

“I really understood the value of Wright State more after I left,” Evan said. “Wright State really got me ready for this.”

A New Generation of Raiders

The Bambakidis family’s connection to Wright State now extends to a third generation.

Steve and Jenny’s son, Constantine, graduated in 2024 with a degree in computer science, continuing a tradition that began decades earlier with his grandparents.

Other extended family members have also attended Wright State, reinforcing its place in the family’s history.

For Evan, the appeal remains both personal and practical.

“It’s good knowing that for my own kids, we don’t have to break the bank to send them someplace to get a quality education,” he said. “Look at your dad. Look at your two uncles. Look at your cousins. We all turned out well.”

Jenny Bambakidis with her sons Constantine and Lazarus, 2024. (Courtesy of the Bambakidis family)

About the Bambakidis Scholarship

Established by the family in memory of their father, the Dr. Gust and Elli Bambakidis Scholarship supports undergraduate physics majors who are enrolled full-time and progressing toward their degrees. Learn more at wright.edu/give/bambakidis.