Michael A. Savageau (born 3 December 1940) is a Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and Biomedical Engineering at The

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

. He was named

Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers , the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and ot ...

(IEEE) in 2013 ''for application of systems engineering concepts to molecular biology''.

Early life and education

Michael Antonio Savageau one of seven children, was born in Fargo,

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

on December 3, 1940. His father was a barber and his mother was a schoolteacher. He was an avid hockey and tennis player through high school, and he has credited sports with teaching him valuable life and professional skills. He struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia throughout his entire academic career, but he developed compensatory strategies. For example, he was unable to take notes in lecture classes, so he developed formidable concentration and memory skills. His dyslexia sparked his interest in mathematics and he excelled in those classes. Savageau graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1958 and went on to earn his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in Engineering from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in 1962, and a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in 1963. He was accepted into the

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

program in

Electrical Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1963, and it was there that he began to develop his interest in applying engineering principles and methodologies to biological systems. Savageau was a postdoctoral fellow at both The

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(1967 - 1968, in the laboratory of Prof. Isaac Harary) and

(1968 - 1970, in the laboratory of Prof. J.P. Steward) prior to joining the faculty at The

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1970. He initiated Michigan’s interdisciplinary training program in Cellular Biotechnology and its interdisciplinary Bioinformatics Program. He also chaired the Department of Microbiology & Immunology from 1979 to 1985 and from 1992 to 2002 and was named the Nicolas Rashevsky Distinguished University Professor in 2002. After moving to the

in 2003 he chaired the Department of Biomedical Engineering from 2005 to 2008.

Personal life

Savageau met fellow student Ann Birky, (currently Ann Savageau, an artist and professor of art and design), at Stanford and they were married in 1967. They raised their family in

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, where both of them held faculty positions at The

. They had three children, Mark, Patrick and Elisa, all of whom have preceded them in death. They are helping to raise their grandchildren in

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Station, an Australian base and research outpost in the Vestfold Hills * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Sa ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Awards and honors

Dr. Savageau’s honors include Guggenheim Fellow, Fulbright Senior Research Fellow, Michigan Society of Fellows,

American Academy of Microbiology American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

Fellow, Foundation for Microbiology Lecturer,

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

Fellow,

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991, and headquartered in Washington, D.C. It represents 50,000 medical and Biomedical engineering, biomedical engineers, and academic i ...

Fellow,

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...

Fellow, Moore Distinguished Scholar at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques Award, 79th Josiah Willard Gibbs Lecturer for the American Mathematical Society, Stanislaw Ulam Distinguished Scholar Award from the Center for Non-Linear Studies,

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development Laboratory, laboratories of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy ...

, Member of the US

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

, Honorary Doctor of Science,

Universitat de Lleida The University of Lleida (officially in Catalan: ''Universitat de Lleida'') is a university based in Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It was the first university founded in Catalonia and in the ancient Crown of Aragon. It was founded in 1300, using the ...

, Spain, The Michael A. Savageau Collegiate Professorship in Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics permanently endowed by the

, the Akira Okubo Prize, and the establishment of the Michael A. Savageau Department Chair in Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics at the University of Michigan.

Selected publications

Dr. Savageau's scientific career includes one book and over 170 peer-reviewed scientific publications, which cover diverse mathematical and biological questions. Below are listed some of his key publications, sorted by topic. Biochemical Systems Theory * Savageau, M.A. (1969). Biochemical systems analysis: I. Some mathematical properties of the rate law for the component enzymatic reactions. J. Theor. Biol. ''25'', 365-369. * Savageau, M.A. (1969). Biochemical systems analysis: II. The steady-state solutions for an n- pool system using a power-law approximation. J. Theor. Biol. ''25'', 370–379. * Savageau, M.A. (1970). Biochemical systems analysis: III. Dynamic solutions using a power-law approximation. J. Theor. Biol. ''26'', 215-226. * Savageau, M.A., Voit, E.O. (1987). Recasting nonlinear differential equations as S-systems: a canonical nonlinear form. Math. Biosci. ''87'', 83-115. * Savageau, M.A. (1971). Parameter sensitivity as a criterion for evaluating and comparing the performance of biochemical systems. Nature ''229'', 542-544. Gene Circuits & Design Principles * Savageau. M.A. (1974). Comparison of classical and autogenous systems of regulation in inducible operons. Nature ''252'', 546-549. * Hlavacek, W.S., Savageau, M.A. (1996). Rules for coupled expression of regulator and effector genes in inducible circuits. J. Mol. Biol. ''255'', 121-139. * Savageau, M.A. (2001). Design principles for elementary gene circuits: Elements, methods, and examples. Chaos ''11'', 142-159. * Atkinson, M.R., Savageau, M.A., Myers, J.T., Ninfa, A.J. (2003). Development of genetic circuitry exhibiting toggle switch or oscillatory behavior in Escherichia coli. Cell ''113'', 597-607. * Wall, M.E., Hlavacek, W.S., Savageau, M.A. (2004). Design of gene circuits: lessons from bacteria. Nat. Rev. Genet. ''5'', 34-42. Method of Mathematically Controlled Comparison * Savageau, M.A (1972). The behavior of intact biochemical control systems. Curr. Top. Cell. Reg. ''6'', 63–130. * Savageau, M.A. (1974). Optimal design of feedback control by inhibition: steady-state considerations. J. Mol. Evol., ''4'', 139–156. * Irvine, D.H. and Savageau, M.A. (1985). Network regulation of the immune response: alternative control points for suppressor modulation of effector lymphocytes. J. Immunol., ''134'', 2100– 2116. * Hlavacek, W.S. and Savageau, M.A. (1996) Rules for coupled expression of regulator and effector genes in inducible circuits. J. Mol. Biol. ''255'', 121–139. * Alves, R., Savageau, M.A. (2000). Extending the method of mathematically controlled comparison to include numerical comparisons. Bioinformatics ''16'', 786–798. Design Space Approach, Design Space Toolbox, and Phenotype-centric Modeling Strategy * Savageau, M.A., Coelho, P.M.B.M., Fasani, R.A., Tolla, D.A., Salvador, A. (2009). Phenotypes and tolerances in the design space of biochemical systems. PNAS ''106'', 6435-6440. * Fasani, R.A., Savageau, M.A. (2010). Automated construction and analysis of the design space for biochemical systems. Bioinformatics ''26'', 2601-2609. * Lomnitz, J.G., Savageau, M.A. (2016). Design Space Toolbox V2: automated software enabling a novel phenotype-centric modeling strategy for natural and synthetic biological systems. Front. Genet. ''7'', 118. * Valderrama-Gómez, M.A., Parales, R.E., Savageau, M.A. (2018). Phenotype-centric modeling for elucidation of biological design principles. J. Theor. Biol. ''455'', 281-292. * Valderrama-Gómez, M.A, Lomnitz, J.G., Fasani, RA, Savageau, M.A. (2020). Mechanistic modeling of biochemical systems without a priori parameter values using the Design Space Toolbox v. 3.0. iScience 101200. Books * Biochemical Systems Analysis: A Study of Function and Design in Molecular Biology, Addison-Wesley 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savageau, Michael Fellows of the IEEE Living people 1940 births Members of the National Academy of Medicine