Michael Malin is President and Chief Scientist of Malin Space Science Systems, Inc. He is Principal Investigator on the Mars Surveyor '98 Lander Descent Imager (MARDI), and the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Orbiter Camera. He was PI of the Mars Observer Camera and the Mars Climate Orbiter Color Imagers (MARCI) prior to the losses of Mars Observer in 1993 and Mars Climate Orbiter in 1999. He is Team Leader of the Mars Surveyor '01 Descent Imaging Team and Deputy Team Leader for the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Multispectral Imager/Near-Infrared Spectrograph Science Investigation Team. Malin is a Co-Investigator on the MGS Thermal Emission Spectrometer and MS '01 Thermal Imaging System (THEMIS). Malin was a Pathfinder Participating Scientist and leader of the Geology and Geomorphology Science Operations Group. He was a Guest Investigator on Magellan and a Member of the Comet Rendezvous/Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) Imaging Subsystem Team.

Dr. Malin's research includes photogeological studies of Mars, and terrestrial field work on modification of volcanic terranes by eolian, fluvial, and mass movement phenomena (in Alaska, Iceland, and Hawaii) and drainage development by non-overland flow mechanisms (Mount St. Helens, Washington, and southern Utah). He has been a NSF principal investigator, in particular on a multi-decadal study of cold-environment weathering and erosion phenomena in Antarctica. Malin received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1987 for his diverse, innovative, and creative efforts.