Micah Jessup Retires

Micah Jessup Retires

In June 2023, Associate Professor Micah Jessup retired after an outstandingly productive career in EPS at UT.

Jessup joined the UT faculty in 2007 following the completion of his PhD at Virginia Tech. During his tenure in EPS, he was a valued contributor to the department in many ways. He taught GEOL 101 to over 1,200 students and he was the core of the structural geology program teaching 28 offerings of GEOL 370: Earth Structure and Geophysics or advanced courses in Structural Geology and Tectonics. He was an active member of departmental committees, especially the graduate program, and his outreach work was broad including a 2012 exhibit at the McClung Museum comparing the Appalachian and Himalaya Mountains that he co-curated with Bob Hatcher.

Jessup ran a highly successful research program focused on tectonics, structure, and mid-crustal flow conducting research in the Himalayas, the Colorado Rockies, and the Cordillera Blanca in the Peruvian Andes, and even our local Smoky Mountains, which attracted funding from NSF and other sources. His success was enhanced by his varied interests, including vorticity analysis, timing and geometry of Himalayan extension, interplay of Himalayan denudation mid-crustal flow, Andean fluid flow, and the tectonic interactions with the underlying downgoing slab.

UT recognized the excellence of Jessup’s research program with the 2013 Chancellor’s Award for Research and Creative Activity. His colleagues organized a session at the recent 2023 Annual GSA Meeting to honor his scientific legacy.

Jessup was an excellent mentor and provided incredible field opportunities to his students in Tibet, India, Peru, Tennessee, and Colorado. During his career at UT, he mentored four PhD, 10 MS, and 16 undergraduate students.

As noted by Associate Professor Nick Dygert, “I was always impressed by the interdisciplinary approaches pursued, for example integrating chronologic, stable isotopic, thermometric, and vorticity analysis in a tectonic framework. The theses consistently pushed the boundaries of the methods and produced results with significance to multiple scientific disciplines.”

Jessup has been a truly outstanding colleague over the past 16 years. He has made significant research contributions that have expanded the scientific knowledge of mid-crustal processes and mountain evolution. He has been an inspiring teacher and mentor in the classroom and in research spaces. He has made impactful contributions to the department, university, and community.

Throughout Jessup’s career, he has always strived for excellence and to reach his highest potential—sometimes literally on very tall mountains. We honor his outstanding contributions and wish him and Laura all the best as they begin the next phase of their journey.