Hartmut Michel was born July 18, 1948, in Ludwigsburg, Germany, to Karl and Freda Kachler Michel. Michel graduated in 1967 from the Friedrich Schiller Gymnasium, with a strong interest in molecular biology and biochemistry, but before pursuing his education, served for two years in the military. In 1969, Michel enrolled in the University of Tubingen. During 1972, he did laboratory work at the University of Munich and at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry at Martinsred, and by the end of that year he had decided to pursue a career in academic research. Michel passed his exams in 1974, and began work in the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the Max Planck Society in Tubingen under Dieter Oesterhelt, a biochemist. Oesterhelt moved to the University of Wurzburg in 1975, and Michel went with him. It was here he completed work for his Ph.D. in 1977.

A good portion of Michel's work under Oesterhelt was devoted to...