Mike Erdman was an amazing colleague, boss, and friend. He always supported us, believed in us, and gave us the space to allow us to add our mark to the vision of expanding leadership development for students. He smiled through challenges, was calm under pressure, and really taught me what it meant to be a good leader. His wisdom, perseverance, and unwavering commitment to student development was the foundation for our growth and success. I am forever changed by working with Mike and will forever be grateful for what he taught me. RIP Mike.

Mike was a great colleague. He and I had a fun trip to Peru in June 2017, along with three other Penn Staters. We enjoyed putting together an annual program for Penn State students to spend six weeks in Peru. That program continues.

Mike was a great friend of students. Kind and gentle, soft spoken but also uncompromising on human values, he was a wonderful mentor for engineering undergrads.

I will certainly miss him. My sincere condolences to the Erdman family at this difficult time. Rest assured that, as Mike was a true blue Penn Stater who always thought of serving the university community, he will be remembered for long.

Mike was very passionate about providing cross cultural global experiences to engineering students. At his core, he was an engineer, in his heart he was a leader, providing countless opportunities for his students to learn, grow, and experience the world. But he also had a spirit for adventure. These pictures show Mike helping students troubleshoot issues with the Baobab processing machine, a successful demonstration of the Baobab machine grinding the fruit to powder, and my favorite picture of Mike on a trip to see gorillas in the wild. While I had the opportunity to go on many international trips with Mike, I did not go on the one where he visited the gorillas but it is my favorite picture. He was absolutely thrilled and this picture perfectly captures the utter joy on his face. - Dena Lang