Michael Rieth received his biology doctorate from the Institute of Microbiology University of Gottingen. He entered into the pharmaceutical industry in 1988. From 1999 to 2014 he was Head of Biological Quality Assurance at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt. He then worked in the field of Global Regulatory Affairs until his retirement in 2020. He has written four books, including Pharmaceutical Microbiology in the German language, which was awarded the Wallhausser Prize in 2013.