Engineering

Gift establishes professorship honoring late aerospace engineering professor

Mike Micci, the late professor of aerospace engineering, was known for his love of model rockets, said Cathy Cohan, his widow. In this 2017 photo, Mike, Cathy and their children Sofia and Carmen compete in a model rocket competition held by the National Association of Rocketry in Muskegan, Michigan. Credit: Provided by Cathy Cohan. All Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The legacy of Mike Micci, the late Penn State professor of aerospace engineering and expert on space propulsion, will live on through a newly established early career professorship in aerospace engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering. Established through a $500,000 gift from Micci’s wife Cathy Cohan and children Sofia and Carmen Micci, the professorship will provide the holder with financial support during the first years of their academic career. 

To be known formally as the Dr. Michael M. Micci Early Career Professorship in Aerospace Engineering, the endowment will support an early career faculty member whose teaching, research and scholarship focus on space propulsion or space systems. It will fund the holder’s salary, research expenses, education and travel expenses, graduate and undergraduate student support, and support services.  

“Through this gift, we honor Mike’s work and memory by supporting the next generation of aerospace professors who teach and conduct research on space propulsion and mentor students in that area,” said Cohan, who is an assistant research professor with the Center for Engineering Outreach and Inclusion in the College of Engineering. “We hope that those who hold this professorship will be inspired by Mike’s hard work, curiosity and passion to expand the bounds of knowledge in aerospace engineering and to mentor the next generation of aerospace engineers.” 

A professor of aerospace engineering at Penn State for 39 years, Micci earned his bachelor of science and master of science degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. He completed his doctoral degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton University, with a focus on rocket propulsion.

A bona fide rocket scientist, Micci specialized in all forms of rocket propulsion, as well as combustion stability in liquid and solid propellant rockets, liquid propellant atomization, electric propulsion, microwave arcjets, nozzle flows and molecular dynamics. During his tenure at Penn State, he taught aerospace courses ranging from dynamics and control to programming and spacecraft environments. 

“A new faculty member’s first few years are the most critical, as they must establish a research program and lab while teaching new courses for the first time,” said Amy Pritchett, professor and head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering. “We are most grateful to the Micci family for providing support to new faculty members to excel in their early years of working at Penn State, setting them up for future successes in research and teaching.”  

Those interested in supporting the new Dr. Michael M. Micci Early Career Professorship in Aerospace Engineering can make a gift online. In addition to the professorship, the Micci family has also established the Michael Micci Student Research Fund, which supports the space research activities of undergraduate and graduate students, and the Michael Micci Graduate Student Award, which provides financial support for graduate students pursuing space propulsion.  

“People give for a lot of reasons,” Cohan said. “But I think for many, like me, the gift is highly personal and holds deep meaning. Establishing the early career professorship in Mike’s name makes me very happy that his legacy will continue in the College of Engineering.” 

Gifts supporting the Department of Aerospace Engineering advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu 

Last Updated January 7, 2025

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