Mike grew up in the suburbs of Milwaukee, WI. He received a BS in Chemistry from Rice University in 2005. While there, he conducted research under the guidance of Prof. Victor Behar on the synthesis of chiral spiroketal containing molecules such as γ-rubromycin.
After Rice, Mike earned his PhD in Chemistry in 2011 from the University of California, Irvine under the mentorship of Prof. Scott Rychnovsky. His thesis focused on the synthesis of macrocyclic tetrahydropyran containing molecules using the Prins cyclization reaction. He then moved to the University of California, Berkeley to join the lab of Prof. F. Dean Toste as a post-doctoral research. While there, he developed a strategy for the synthesis of dolabiferol utilizing a novel Kornblum-DeLaMare desymmetrization reaction.
In 2013, Mike began his independent career as a tenure-track assistant professor at Southwestern University. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2019 and served as department chair from 2019-2022. In 2023 he moved back to his home state of Wisconsin and began his career at Lawrence University as an Associate Professor. His research interests include developing transition metal-mediated reactions for the synthesis of novel cyclic structures. Through this work, he has become dedicated to student mentorship, both in the laboratory and the classroom.
