Michael Davidson

Michael W. Davidson passed away at home with family and friends December 24th after a valiant battle with Cancer. He is preceded by death of his parents Wes and Nan Davidson. He is survived by his wife Pamela; and brother James Davidson (Jeany); daughter Misty Burch (Edgar), step sons: David, Kaleb and Jared Homan; grandchildren: James Homan and Destiny Ashley. Michael achieved international fame as a microscopist, a photographer, and a teacher. He led the Optical Microscopy Division of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at The Florida State University for over 20 years. Cell biology has exploded in recent years due to the advent of the use of fluorescent proteins. The learning curve has been steep and unavailable, for the most part, in textbooks due to the rapid advancement in knowledge. Mike played a unique role in facilitating that explosion. Mike created the website, Molecular Expressions, which has been used worldwide for many years in teaching the use of the microscope. The website has also been described in feature articles from other websites including Wired.com, Slashdot, Newsweek, USAToday, Focus, Washington Post, New York Times, and the San Jose Mercury News. Mike also created websites for the major microscope manufacturers, Nikon, Zeiss and Olympus to advance the understanding and use of their microscopes. He authored countless articles and co-authored two textbooks on the use of fluorescent proteins in science. He mutated fluorescent proteins creating new tools for science, and he synthesized vectors to allow the use of various fluorescent proteins in all parts of the living cell. His gift of over 5000 “vectors” to Addgene and the science world at large was the biggest of its kind ever. He was heralded by Eric Betzig, the winner of the 2014 Nobel prize in Chemistry, for his help in showing how fluorescent proteins could be used to show details of cells on a never before seen molecular level. Mike won more than 40 awards in scientific and industrial photography competitions. His photomicrographs, pictures through microscopes, appeared on the covers of over 600 scientific, industrial and popular periodicals and books (including such prestigious titles as: Nature, Science, Physics World, and Physics Today) and he has written or been the subject of more than 75 articles on the subject of Art in Science in popular scientific and photography magazines throughout the world including Popular Science, Scientific American, Popular Photography, National Geographic, and Discover. Framed prints of Mike’s micrographs have been exhibited at over 50 locations including the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Research Council Headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, the Pacific Coast Science Center in Seattle, the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, the International Center for Photography and Sotheby's in New York City. In addition, Mike’s photomicrographs have been incorporated into a variety of products. The most famous incorporation of these photomicrographs has been in Stonehenge Ltd.s' series of designer neckties termed the "Molecular Expressions" collections that have included neckties sporting a variety of photomicrographs. Mike was honored by an appointment to the rotating staff at the Marine Biology Laboratory at Wood’s Hole in MA. He taught the use of the microscope to the Physiology class which is attended by an international student selection from the brightest upcoming minds in Science. Mike has been a popular lecturer at Cell Biology and Neuroscience conventions for the last several years. For several years he has run the Nikon Small World Contest and the Olympus Bioscapes contests which honor the best images taken with the use of microscope each year. Mike also was a mentor to a number of younger people working in his lab. He was able to provide them with direction, skills, and discipline to go on to greater achievements in science and computer art. Words cannot convey the gratitude of having Dr. Paresh Patel and staff care for Michael as well as Hospice nurse, Miriette Dorval. No services are planned. The family asks that in lieu of flowers that a donation be made to the Robinson Family Reunion House, P. O. Box 1118, Douglasville, GA, 30133, in honor of Michael.

Tributes

Michael Davidson

November 14, 1950 - December 24, 2015