Positions Currently Held:
Head, Particle Data Group;
Fellow, American Physical Society;
Chair-Elect, American Physical Society, California Section;
Vice President for Colleges and Universities,
    American Association of Physics Teachers, N. Calif./Nev. Section;
Coordinator, ATLAS Experiment, Education and Outreach Committee;
Co-Founder and Co-Director, QuarkNet educational program;
Co-Founder and former Vice President, Contemporary Physics Education Project

Research:
Over 120 published papers in theoretical physics on the Standard Model and its extensions, including studies of the nature of Quantum Chromodynamics, analyses of neutral current couplings, calculations of the production of heavy quarks, and studies of the properties of supersymmetric particles and higgs bosons.

Head of the Particle Data Group (PDG), an international collaboration with over one hundred members from 77 universities and laboratories in 13 countries. It provides essential up-to-date summaries of experimental and theoretical particle physics to the HEP community and other physicists and to teachers and students. The information is made available through the biennial publication of the "Review of Particle Physics" (a 1000-page book), and the "Particle Physics Booklet." The Review is requested by 14,000 people and the booklet version by 28,000 people (including thousands of students). The Review has been cited by over 10,000 papers in our field, far exceeding that of any other publication. Physicists from 140 countries have used the PDG webpages, yielding 5-10 million hits per year.

Education Projects:
Education Coordinator of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. ATLAS is a particle physics experiment conducted by 34 nations at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. Responsible for education and outreach programs of this 1600-member international collaboration. Led production of a 20-minute movie about ATLAS that has won four gold medals at international film festivals (in the science category).

Led creation of "The Particle Adventure" a Web multimedia feature (now in twelve languages) at ParticleAdventure.org. The Discovery Channel website says: "This site takes your students into the future. Check out this totally awesome interactive site..."

As a founder and early leader of the Contemporary Physics Education Project (CPEP), worked since 1986 in creating a variety of materials about particle physics, cosmology, nuclear physics, and plasma/fusion physics. These include wall charts, web-based features, booklets, software, and classroom activities. Over 200,000 copies of the charts have been distributed, and they have appeared in three Hollywood movies. Our latest chart is the "History and Fate of the Universe"

As Co-Director of QuarkNet, lead a national program to involve students and teachers in vanguard experiments while learning basic physics. QuarkNet has established 50 "centers" in 26 states plus Puerto Rico. It involves students at 500 high schools in research at Fermilab, the CERN lab, SLAC, etc. and gives teachers summer research experiences.

Funded by the Nobel Foundation for collaborative efforts in developing the Nobel e-Museum. Created the section entitled: "Look into the interior of matter!" Attended the 1999 week-long Nobel Prize cermonies in Stockholm.

See images from our 8-page, very colorful new brochure on particle physics with an emphasis on extra dimensions. Also see a short article in Scientific American (with Helen Quinn) about antimatter in the April 2002 issue.

Member of the PBS NOVA Advisory Board for the teacher's guide for the October 2003 NOVA series The Elegant Universe about String Theory.

Co-author of a book on particle physics for students, teachers and the public entitled "The Charm of Strange Quarks: Mysteries and Revolutions of Particle Physics" (Springer-Verlag ISBN: 0387988971). This book (now in its second printing) describes the fascinating story of how 20th century physicists revealed layer upon layer of structure within the atom to reach the basic particles of matter. Both particle physics and cosmology are made accessible to a reader familiar with some basic principles of physics. Also co-authored "Particle Physics -- One Hundred Years of Discoveries" (AIP Press).

Service
Public Information Coordinator for the American Physical Society (APS) Division of Particles and Fields (1994-97). Organized three APS receptions in the US House of Representatives for Members of Congress and their staff and for Administration officials. As member of the APS Task Force on Informing the Public, proposed the public website that became Physics Central. Organized a large assembly in Washington's Lisner Auditorium on Super Collider research, which was addressed by several Nobel Prize winners and by Stephen Hawking. Currently Chair-Elect, American Physical Society, California Section. Currently Vice President for Colleges and Universities, American Association of Physics Teachers, N. Calif./Nev. Section.

My Websites
Particle Data Group
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
The ATLAS Experiment
The Particle Adventure
Our pages at the Nobel website
Quark Dance
Contemporary Physics Education Project
The Universe Adventure
QuarkNet
The Charm of Strange Quarks

Photos
Michael's photos are located here.

Education
Ph.D. -- University of Chicago
B.S. -- Antioch College
High School -- Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, Maryland

Mail to: ( ) -- Last updated 11 July 2003