Michael James Gaffey: key obituary facts
Is Michael James Gaffey dead? Yes. Michael James Gaffey died on September 20, 2026, at age 80.
Cause of death: Michael James Gaffey's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Michael James Gaffey known for?
He was an American planetary scientist (born 1945).
More about Michael James Gaffey
Born: 1 December 1945.
Gender: male.
Occupation: scientist.
Education: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Employer: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of North Dakota.
Awards: G. K. Gilbert Award.
Also known as: Michael J. Gaffey.
Michael James Gaffey, an American planetary scientist who specialized in deriving the mineralogies of asteroids from their reflectance spectra, died on September 20, 2026, aged 80.
Born on December 1, 1945, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from the University of Iowa before completing a PhD in planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974. He went on to work there as a postdoctoral researcher in the Planetary Astronomy Laboratory from 1974 to 1977, and later held positions at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of North Dakota.
Gaffey received the G. K. Gilbert Award from the Geological Society of America’s Planetary Science division, and asteroid 3545 Gaffey was named in his honor.