Michael Aaron Rockland (1935-2026) was a professor emeritus of American studies at Rutgers University. He taught there for over fifty years, starting the American studies department and chairing it as well. Over his career, Michael received numerous teaching and civic awards, including the Mary C. Turpie award for outstanding teaching from the American Studies Association, the Warren L. Susman award for teaching from Rutgers University, and the Richard J. Hughes award for contributions to the public knowledge of New Jersey history. 

New Jersey was a principal focus of Michael's journalism and scholarly publications. He co-wrote with Angus Kress Gillespie Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike, which won a New Jersey State Library recognition. He also wrote The George Washington Bridge: Poetry in Steel, and The Other Jersey Shore: Life on the Delaware River. A novel, A Bliss Case, was chosen as a Notable Book of the Year for 1989 by The New York Times.