Michael is an associate professor in Religious Education. He received his Ph.D. in Marriage Family and Human Development from Brigham Young University. He is the editor of two books and author of almost 50 peer reviewed articles and book chapters on subject related to religion and the family. He has served in several leadership capacities for the National Council on Family Relations for almost a decade. He is a Co-Investigator on the Family Foundations of Youth Development project and a key contributor to the American Families of Faith project. He was co-chair of the committee that created both the in-person and Online Eternal Family course required of all BYU students. His social science research has focused on LGBTQ suicidality and mental health for the last several years. He was an author in the Voices of Hope book and has participated in North Star in some capacity for several years.