Donald Casimir Mikulecky

Donald Casimir Mikulecky of Richmond, VA passed away on Saturday, July 6 at the age of 88. Don served in the US Marine Corp as a Lieutenant from 1957-1960 and was a Lieutenant in the US Marine Corp Reserves from 1960-1963. Originally from Chicago, IL, Don earned his Ph. D. in Physiology from the University of Chicago in 1963. From there Don taught at several schools including: S.U.N.Y. Buffalo, Philander Smith College, Harvard Medical School and Meharry Medical College. In 1973, Don accepted a teaching position at the VCU Medical School and remained at VCU until retiring in 2001 which he was made Professor Emeritus. During his tenure at VCU, Don enjoyed taking sabbaticals and teaching abroad which includes time as a Visiting Professor at: University of Rouen, Rouen, France; Max Planck Institute for Biophysics, Kennedy Alee, Frankfurt, Germany; University of Padova, Padova, Italy; Weizmann Institute for Science, Rehovoth, Israel; College de France, University of Paris, and CEN Saclay, France. In addition to teaching, Don published many papers and two books. In 1993, his book “Application of Network Thermodynamics to Problems in Biomedical Engineering” was published. In 2012, Don and collaborator James A. Coffman published a book called “Global Insanity: How Homo sapiens Lost Touch with Reality while Transforming the World”. Outside of teaching Don had a passion for painting and playing chess. Don was preceded in death by his father, Elmer F. Mikulecky, his mother, Valerie Mikulecky, and his son, Joel Mikulecky. Don is survived by his wife, Sandy Mikulecky; daughter, Elizabeth Lacy; step-son, Dan McDonald; step-daughter Jan Bassett; six grandchildren and one great grandchild. The family will be having a private ceremony to honor the life of Don Mikulecky. If you’d like to honor Don’s life, please consider donating to Support the School of Medicine using the link below.