Michael D. Morse went to Haverford College, where he obtained his chemistry B.S. in 1974. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1980, under the direction of Karl F. Freed and Stuart A. Rice. His dissertation was entitled “Molecular Photodissociation.” He then went to Rice University, where he was a postdoctoral researcher with Richard E. Smalley. He has been a faculty member at the University of Utah since 1985.

Prof. Morse’s research focuses on the electronic structure of small transition metal molecules, studied through using resonant two-photon ionization spectroscopy. In early studies, open d-shell metal dimers were found to predissociate abruptly as soon as the lowest separated atom limit was exceeded, allowing the bond dissociation energy to be precisely measured. More recently, this technique has been applied to metal-main group bonds, allowing the precise measurement of about 70 MX molecules in the past 4 years. In 2019, he received the William F. Meggers Award from OSA.