Dr. Chris McNally Named EV Educator of the Year

May 6, 2025

Applied Technologies Department Chair Dr. Chris McNally, was recently named EV Educator of the Year by the Electric Vehicle Association (EVA), a national volunteer organization that works to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles.

As department chair for the automotive programs at Hudson Valley Community College, Dr. McNally has been instrumental in developing curriculum and securing grants to establish training for both automotive technicians and EV charging infrastructure professionals. He’s helped lead a number of “train-the-trainer” outreach programs to educate automotive education professionals, including four summer intensive trainings that brought more than 20 technicians from Instituto CEA, an automotive technical education college in San Jose, Costa Rica. A fifth contingent of technicians from Costa Rica will be visiting campus for training in May 2025.

According to its website, the EVA’s Educator of the Year Award is given to “those in a public or private education role who are expanding access to educational opportunities that advance understanding of EV technology, charging, infrastructure, and the broader impacts of electric vehicles on society and the environment.”

Dr. McNally led the development and launch of Hudson Valley’s associate in occupational science degree program in Electric and Autonomous Vehicles in 2021, which is one of the first of its kind in the SUNY system. With the degree, the college is hoping to address the growing need for technicians trained in electric drive trains and systems.

“We are so pleased that Dr. McNally has received this well-deserved recognition,” said the college’s Officer in Charge Louis Coplin. “He has been a driving factor not only in the development of our EV training curriculum but also in finding ways to reach new audiences with that training.”

The Electric Vehicle Association is North America’s largest non-profit network of volunteers working to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles, with nearly 100 chapters and thousands of members who educate their communities about the economic, environmental and health benefits of driving electric cars and trucks.

Dr. McNally was honored at the national EVA Annual Meeting and Awards Weekend, held May 2–4 in Schenectady.