Remembering Michael Gaffey
Michael Gaffey, 80, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Space Studies Emeritus, died on Sunday, Sept. 20.
Gaffey served UND as a professor of Space Studies from 2001 until 2022 and was a world-renowned planetary scientist as an authority on asteroids.
A full obituary is available to read on the Hindt Funeral Homes website.
Born and raised near Riceville, Iowa, Gaffey received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from the University of Iowa and his Ph.D. in planetary science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He went on to work as a researcher at the University of Hawaii’s Institute of Astronomy as well as its Institute of Geophysics. From 1984 until 2001, he taught geology at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.
At UND, Gaffey’s research on asteroids and similar near-Earth objects was award-winning. In 2006, he received both the Leonard Medal from the American Meteorological Society and the G.K. Gilbert Award from the planetary science division of the Geological Society of America for his contributions to the field.
Shortly after, he was named to UND’s highest faculty honor of Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor.
He served as a participating scientist on NASA’s Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission in the late 1990s and the Dawn space exploration mission launched in 2007.
The asteroid “3545 Gaffey” is named for him and his work on asteroid characterization and methodology.
Gaffey’s interests also included mineralogy, planetary geology and paleontology.
A former student and eventual colleague and friend of Gaffey’s, Associate Professor Sherry Fieber-Beyer, said in a 2022 UND Today story that he was able to bring a niche research area to UND that in turn brought attention to the University.
“He was good to students,” she said. “And he has a wealth of knowledge on everything.”
In that same feature, Pablo de Leon, chair of the Department of Space Studies, said Gaffey was always known for answering the call of service to students and science.
Gaffey will be interred at Calvary Cemetery in Elma, Iowa, following a private service this week.