The Michelis Chair of Aesthetics was founded in 1998 following a proposal by the Department of Philosophy and Social Studies of the University of Crete (Rethymnon).

The Michelis Chair is fully funded by the Panayotis and Effie Michelis Foundation.

The creation of a University Chair of Aesthetics -especially one named after such an eminent theoretician and philosopher as Panayotis Michelis- and its funding by a private institution is unprecedented in Greek academia.

In 2005, to honour the memory of Panayotis and Effie Michelis, the Department of Philosophy and Social Studies of the University of Crete (Rethymnon) organised a Symposium on the theme, "Aesthetics and Art: Interdisciplinary Approaches".