Michael Solursh was born December 22, 1942 in Los Angeles, California. He married Victoria Raskin on March 22, 1964, and they had one daughter, Elizabeth.

Solursh received his B. A. degree in Zoology from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1964. He took his Ph.D. at the University of Washington in July 1969. In August 1969 Solursh joined the faculty of the University of Iowa Department of Zoology, where he taught courses in developmental biology. He was named a full professor in 1980. The UI Zoology Department merged with the Biology Department in 1986 and Solursh became a professor of biology at that time. He published a vast number of papers relating to cartilage formation of chicken embryo limb bud cells and was internationally known and consulted.

The National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development established the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank at Johns Hopkins University in 1986. A single subcontract was granted, which went to the University of Iowa and director Michael Solursh. The DSHB produces a large variety of monoclonal antibodies for use in limb and developmental studies. In recognition of his accomplishments, Professor Solursh was named a Carver/Harold W. Beams Professor of the Biological Sciences at the University of Iowa in 1989. Following the death of Michael Solursh on April 9, 1994, the bank was transferred to the lab of Dr. David R. Soll at the University of Iowa.

Denise Anderson, July 2009