Michael Lee Roukes is an American experimental physicist, nanoscientist, and the Frank J. Roshek Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, and Bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Roukes earned B.A. degrees in physics and chemistry (double majors) in 1978 at University of California, Santa Cruz, with highest honors in both majors, he received his Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University in 1985. His graduate advisor at Cornell was Nobel Laureate, Robert Coleman Richardson. Roukes’ thesis research at Cornell elucidated the electron-phonon bottleneck at ultra low temperatures; the hot electron effect that is now recapitulated in texts on solid state transport physics. Stated in simplest terms, when electrons carry current in normal conductors, they heat up. At low temperatures and, now, in nanoscale devices at ordinary temperatures, their ability to dissipate this heat can be significantly impaired. This has generic implications for the operation of powered nanodevices. After earning his Ph.D., Roukes spent seven years as a Member of Technical Staff / Principal Investigator in the Quantum Structures Research group at Bell Communications Research in New Jersey, focusing on mesoscopic physics of electron transport in nanostructures. Roukes left Bellcore to become a tenured Associate Professor of Physics at Caltech in 1992, rising to full professorship in 1995, and subsequently became Professor of Physics, Applied Physics, and Bioengineering in 2000. Upon moving to Caltech, his principal research focus changed to nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). As the earliest pioneer in this field, DARPA engaged Roukes to organize the first international workshop on NEMS in 1999, followed by a large international conference and school on nanoscale and molecular mechanics in 2002. The many alumni from his group continue to advance this field at major universities in the U.S. and abroad. Roukes' other research efforts at Caltech have focused on thermal properties of nanostructures, semiconductor spintronics, and, more recently, nanobiotechnology. In 2002 Roukes was named the founding Director of the Kavli Nanoscience Institute (KNI) at Caltech. After stepping down between 2006–2008, to focus on co-founding the international Alliance for Nanosystems VLSI (very large scale integration) and to pursue collaborative research on NEMS VLSI in connection with a Chaire d’Excellence in Nanoscience in Grenoble (with scientists at CEA/LETI-Minatec), Roukes returned as co-Director of the KNI in 2008. Roukes was named a recipient of a National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award in 2010. In 2012 he was named Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques