Since the early work of Bagnold in the 1940s, aeolian research has grown to become a major integral part of earth-system studies. Many individuals have contributed to this development, and Dr. Michael R. Raupach (MR2, 1950 – 2015) was one of the most outstanding. MR2 worked for about a decade (1985 – 1995) intensively on wind erosion problems, but he did so brilliantly by relating aeolian problems to his deep knowledge of turbulence, and made profound contributions to the field with far-reaching influences and a lasting legacy. The beauty of MR2s work is crystal clear conceptual thinking, reducing problems to their essentials and expressing that essence with elegance yet simplicity. The results of his work are robust and practically applicable. In this review we reflect on MR2’s contribution to a number of important aeolian research themes, summarize the developments since his inspirational work and place MR2’s effort in the context of aeolian science. We also demonstrate how MR2’s work provided the foundations for many of the new developments in aeolian new research. In this tribute, we concentrate on MR2’s work in five areas: (1) drag partition theory; (2) saltation roughness length; (3) saltation bombardment; (4) threshold friction velocity; and (5) carbon cycle.