Michael (Mike) Charles Reed is an American mathematician known for his contributions to mathematical physics and mathematical biology. Reed first attended Yale University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree. In 1969 he earned a PhD from Stanford University. Since 1977 he has taught at Duke University, where he is the Bishop-MacDermott Professor of Mathematics. To clarify the mathematics supporting the theories of quantum mechanics, he joined with Barry Simon to publish Methods of Modern Mathematical Physics in four volumes during the 1970s. In a review, William Faris wrote