Andreas Gerasimos Michalitsianos

Who was Andreas Gerasimos Michalitsianos?

Dr. Andreas 'Andy' Gerasimos Michalitsianos was a Greek-American astronomer and a NASA astrophysicist, also known and published as Andrew G. Michalitsianos.

Born in Alexandria, Egypt on May 22, 1947, Andreas grew up with his mother, who spoke little English and briefly, with his father. He moved with his family to New York City in 1949 and lived in the Queens borough before going to college. Michalitsianos' father, Gerasimos Andreas, was a sea captain of a Greek tanker, the SS Foundation Star, but the ship was caught up in a hurricane and sunk in September 1952 off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia and Michalitsianos' father died of pneumonia shortly after rescue. Andreas showed an early interest in astronomy and physics from an early age, winning a science contest in 1959 and serving as president of the Junior Astronomy Club in NYC where his accomplishments included leading a South American eclipse expedition. He graduated from Newtown High School in 1965 and then earned his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Arizona at Tucson in 1969, working at the nearby Kitt Peak National Observatory as a student employee in the Space Division to help pay off his college debts. His duties at Kitt Peak included the initial tests of a remotely-controlled telescope.