Michael A.G. Michaud

Author of over one hundred published works, Michael A.G. Michaud was a U.S. Foreign Service officer for 32 years before turning full time to writing.
 
During his diplomatic career, he served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Science and Technology, Director of the State Department’s Office of Advanced Technology, Minister-Counselor for Environment, Science, and Technology at the American Embassy in Tokyo, and as Counselor for Environment, Science, and Technology at the American Embassy in Paris. His earlier overseas assignments were Consul-General in Belfast, Information Officer in Bombay, Political and later Economic Officer in Tehran, and Vice-Consul in Dacca. In Washington, he served as country officer for Iran, Australia and Papua New Guinea, and the United Kingdom. He also worked in the Bureaus of Political-Military Affairs, Intelligence and Research, and Personnel.
 
Michael led the successful negotiation of a new science and technology agreement between the United States and Poland, and of a new transportation science and technology agreement between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. He played a major role in the negotiation of a new space cooperation agreement between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. He was one of the initiators of U.S.-Soviet anti-satellite arms control negotiations and served on the U.S. delegation. He represented the Department of State many times in interagency space policy forums and testified before Congressional committees four times on space-related issues.
 
He is a member of many professional organizations, including the International Academy of Astronautics, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Astronautical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has spoken before meetings of all these organizations, as well as at the annual meetings of the International Astronautical Federation. He also is a member of the World History Association.
 
Michael is the author of two research-driven books. His most recent titled Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials, published in 2007 by the scientific publisher Springer, is a detailed study of the centuries-long debates about the probability and consequences of coming into contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. He previously published a study of the American pro-space movement titled Reaching for the High Frontier: The American Pro-Space Movement, 1972–84. His publication record also includes more than eighty articles and papers, three short pieces of fiction, and the novel Legend released under a pseudonym.
 
His papers include It’s About the Evidence, Quotations to Consider in the Debate About Active SETI, An International Agreement Concerning the Detection of Extraterrestrial Intelligence, A Reply from Earth?, Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials, Ten Decisions that Could Shake the World, SETI and Diplomacy, and The Last Question. He also coedited the book Social Implications of the Detection of Extraterrestrial Civilization: A Report of the Workshops on the Cultural Aspects of SETI.