Michael Rodemer: 1953–2026
Stamps Professor Emeritus Michael Rodemer passed away on October 22, 2026, following a 17-year struggle with Parkinson’s Disease.
An active member of the Stamps faculty from 1996 – 2020, Michael was a generous colleague, thoughtful teacher, and dedicated maker who inspired students to expand their imaginations and develop their skills.
Michael’s creative work included sculptures in bronze, neon interventions in trees in Germany, interactive installations incorporating spoken word, and collaborations in the performing arts — a wide-ranging portfolio reflective of his interdisciplinary education (M.A. in Comparative Literature, MFA in Sculpture), expansive skill set, and boundless curiosity. His decade-long collaboration with composer and U‑M School of Music, Theater, and Dance Professor Stephen Rush resulted in the creation of three operas, vidGod (2001); ¡Stop Blaming Columbus! (2005); and Two Candles Burning (2009), as well as pieces for dance and instrumental video works. His work was exhibited and performed across the globe, and he was the recipient of two Fulbright Senior Scholar fellowships to Germany.
At Stamps, Michael taught across the Stamps curriculum, developing courses that focused on both new and traditional techniques, from classical sculpture to interactive programming. Working in collaboration with students and technicians, he created the influential NIQ EZ‑I/O: a versatile circuit board for interactivity that predated the Arduino and enabled artists, musicians, and engineers around the world to more easily create work.
Reflecting on his time in the studio with Stamps students, Michael recalled the empowerment first-year students often displayed after receiving welding training in his Studio 3D courses:
“Welding is easy to learn, yet offers enormous strength and flexibility in working with steel. The process is admittedly a bit intimidating, though: one is cloaked in heavy protective gear, it’s hard to see through the helmet’s dark glass, and with a mere flexing of a finger, a white-hot flow of electrons leaps out to melt the steel, just an arm’s length away. I came to expect an exchange like the following:
Student (lifting their helmet with a gloved hand): ‘I’m scared.’
Me: ‘I know.’ (pause) ‘That’s why you need to do this.’ (pause) ‘I’ll watch while you do it.’
A few moments later, two pieces of steel are joined into one.
The student turns to me, lifting their helmet to reveal a smile as bright and powerful as the welding arc, a smile that said, “I can do – anything!”
Life gives us such transformational experiences only rarely; I got to witness them again and again in Studio 3D.”
On the occasion of his retirement in 2026, Michael offered these words of wisdom to future generations of artists and designers. “If you can afford it, only take on projects where your heart is really in it. Drudge work costs you more than it’s worth.”
“If you can afford it, only take on projects where your heart is really in it. Drudge work costs you more than it’s worth.”
Michael is survived by his wife, Dörte A. Junker, his daughter, Maya, his sister Nora “Kathy” and her husband Steve Hoffman, and his nephew and niece, Adam and Alicia, and their families. A public celebration of life is being planned for spring 2027.
Learn more about Professor Rodemer’s life in his MLive obituary.