1889 - 1969 Professor

Antonius Mathias Johannes Friedrich Michels was born on 31st December 1889. He would attend St Ignatius College and in 1909 he studied mathematics and physics at the University of Amsterdam during which he would work as a primary school teacher. He achieved his bachelor's in mathematics, physics and chemistry in 1913 and in 1919 he obtained his master's degree in mathematics and physics. This allowed him to work as an assistant in the Thermodynamics Department of the University of Amsterdam's Physics Laboratory. He would achieve his doctorate in 1924 during which he continued to teach whilst studying.

In 1929 Michels became a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and by 1939 he became an extraordinary professor in experimental and technical physics. It wasn't until 1956 that he was appointed a full professor of experimental and applied physics. He would retire in 1960 but remained at the University as a consultant until his death in 1969.