Christopher P. Michel (born August 26, 1967) is an American photographer, entrepreneur and investor. He is the artist-in-residence at the National Academies, founder of Affinity Labs,

Military.com Military.com is a website that provides news and information about the United States military, service members, veterans, and their families as well as foreign policy and broader national security issues. Founded in 1999, the site has been a divi ...

and Nautilus Ventures.

Early life and career

Christopher Michel at 70,000 Feet in a U-2

Education

Michel earned his commission from the NROTC program at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

, where he graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

and was selected as the distinguished naval graduate. He earned an MBA from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

in 1998. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Tiffin University.

Military

Prior to his business career, Michel served as a Naval Flight Officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. While on active duty, Michel flew as a Navigator, Tactical Coordinator and Mission Commander aboard the

P-3C Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.

as Aide to the Chief of the Naval Reserve.

Career

Business

In 1999, he founded Military.com, an online portal for servicemembers,

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that h ...

s and their families. In 2006, Michel founded Affinity Labs, which runs a portfolio of online professional communities. Both Military.com and Affinity Labs were purchased by Monster Worldwide. In 2008, he founded Nautilus Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm. Michel serves as a Director of Dale Carnegie and CatchLight. He previously served on the boards of 3D Robotics, Kixeye, Castlight Health (NYSE: CSLT), International Data Group (IDG), the

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

(USO),

United States Naval Institute The United States Naval Institute (USNI) is a private non-profit military association that offers independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national security issues. In addition to publishing magazines and books, the Naval Institute holds s ...

(USNI), Tugboat Yards, the USS Arizona Memorial Fund, the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation, Alliance Health & EZ Board. He was also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at

during the 2010–2011 school year and was named a Henry Crown Fellow of the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

. Michel is an advisor to the

Union of Concerned Scientists The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is a nonprofit science advocacy organization based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. Anne Kapuscinski, Professor of Environmenta ...

, a Fellow of the

Royal Geographic Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sci ...

, and a member of the Explorers Club.

Writing and photography

Michel is also a photographer and the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at the

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (also known as NASEM or the National Academies) are the collective scientific national academy of the United States. The name is used interchangeably in two senses: (1) as an umbrell ...

. His appointment is focused on leveraging visual storytelling to elevate the work of scientists, engineers and medical professionals in society. Michel has been working with the National Academies since 2009. He has been a member of the President’s Circle and on the advisory board of the Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS) . He currently serves as an advisor to the Climate Communications Initiative. He was formerly Photo Editor-at-Large for The Bold Italic and has published a number of fine art books. He is currently working on his latest book with travel writer,

Pico Iyer Siddharth Pico Raghavan Iyer (born 11 February 1957), known as Pico Iyer, is a British-born essayist and novelist known chiefly for his travel writing. He is the author of numerous books on crossing cultures including ''Video Night in Kathmand ...

. Michel is also a photography instructor at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops and Esalen. He is also an adventure guide with Natural World Safaris, leading trips in the Polar regions. Chris works closely with

Leica Camera Leica Camera AG () is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same directio ...

. Additionally, he was an ambassador for the launch of the Leica SL2 camera. Michel was also longtime columnist in ''Proceedings'' magazine. He is also one of three protagonists in Bill Murphy's book, ''The Intelligent Entrepreneur: How Three Harvard Business School Graduates Learned the 10 Rules of Successful Entrepreneurship'', published by Henry Holt in 2010. Penguin in Antarctica jumping out of the water.jpg,

Emperor penguin The emperor penguin (''Aptenodytes forsteri'') is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in length and weighing from . Feathers of ...

in Antarctica (2013) Humpback Whales - Flickr - Christopher.Michel (38).jpg,

Humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hum ...

(2014) Sam Abell.jpg, Sam Abell (2016) Tenzin Gyatso - 14th Dalai Lama (2012).jpg,

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

(2012) A_woman_of_Papua_New_Guinea_with_facepaint.jpg, Woman in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

(2004) File:World famous photographer, Morton Beebe (6997940423).jpg, Morton Beebe, photographer

Publications

*''The Military Advantage: A Comprehensive Guide to Your Military & Veterans Benefits'',

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

, 2005

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Michel, Christopher 1967 births American chief executives American corporate directors American non-fiction writers Living people Harvard Business School alumni Henry Crown Fellows Place of birth missing (living people) University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni