Dr. Michael T. Madigan received his B.S. in Biology and Education from Wisconsin State University–Stevens Point (1971) and his M.S. (1974) and Ph.D. (1976) in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Dr. Madigan’s graduate research was on the hot spring bacterium Chloroflexus in the laboratory of Thomas Brock. Following a 3 year postdoctoral at Indiana University, Mike moved to Southern Illinois University–Carbondale, where he taught introductory microbiology and bacterial diversity as a professor of microbiology for thirty three years. In 1988 Mike was selected as the Outstanding Teacher in the College of Science and in 1993, the Outstanding Researcher. In 2001 he received the SIUC Outstanding Scholar Award. In 2003 he received the Carski Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching from the American Society for Microbiology, and he is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. Dr. Madigan research is focused on bacteria that inhabit extreme environments, and for the past 15 years he has studied Antarctic microbiology. In addition to research papers, he has edited a major treatise on phototrophic bacteria and served for 10 years as chief editor of the journal Archives of Microbiology. He currently serves on the editorial board of the journals Environmental Microbiology and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. Madigan’s nonscientific interests include reading, forestry, and caring for his horses and dogs. He lives on a quiet lake with his wife, Nancy, 4 shelter dogs and 3 horses (Eddie, Gwen, and Festus).