Gaetano Vincent Amico

Dr. Gaetano Vincent Amico (Vince), 95, of Winter Park, Florida, passed away February 2, 2016. Vince was a first generation Italian-American, the son of Salvatore Amico and Anna DeFrancesco, born in the Bronx, New York on October 20, 1920.

Dr. Amico graduated from New York University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering in 1941, he graduated from Hofstra College in 1954 with a Master of Business Administration. He earned a Master of Science in Engineering from Florida Technical University (now UCF) in 1973. In 2004 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science Degree from The University of Central Florida. He was a member of Tau Beta Pi and Alpha Pi Mu Honorary Engineering Fraternities, Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, AFCEA, NCS, NDIA, and the Society for Computer Simulation (SCS).

Dr. Amico worked on the design of naval aircraft as a stress analyst and project stress engineer from 1941 to 1945. He entered the Armed Forces in 1945 and was assigned to the Static Test Unit of the Structures Laboratory at Wright Field as a structures research engineer. In 1947 he joined Republic Aviation Corporation with responsibilities for preliminary structural design of missile and advanced aircraft systems. In 1948 he joined the Special Devices Center in Port Washington, New York. He served as Director of Research of the Center in Orlando, Florida from 1979 to 1981. He was awarded a patent in 1961 for his instrument lighting device.

He was instrumental in the establishment of the Institute for Simulation and Training (IST) at UCF, and he served as a member of the Board of the SCS, including service as Vice President for Conferences. He was one of the prime movers behind growing the simulation industry nationwide and in Central Florida, developing master’s and PhD programs in simulation at UCF, developing a professional certification program for simulation professionals, and creating a set of industrial classification (SIC/NAICS) codes for the simulation industry. He created the Vince and Beth Amico Scholarship Fund for high school students aspiring to study simulation engineering.

He received the I/ITSEC Lifetime Achievement Award and the SCS Presidential Award. He was inducted into the National Center for Simulation Hall of Fame in 2014.

His first wife, Helen Bayer Amico, passed away in 1992. His second wife, Elizabeth Mullens Amico, passed away in 2015. He is survived by his daughters, Annette McCoy of Austin, Texas and Lorraine Grace of Newcomb, Maryland, his grandson, Allen Grace, of Washington, D.C. and his brother, Joseph Amico of New Rochelle, New York.

A visitation will be held Saturday, February 6, 2016 from 1-4 pm at Baldwin Fairchild, 7520 Aloma Avenue, Winter Park. A private mass will be held at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Winter Park. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Baldwin Fairchild Funeral Home, Winter Park. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the Vince and Beth Amico Scholarship Fund in care of the University of Central Florida.