He is known for being one of the creators (with Daniel Grayson) of the Macaulay2 computer algebra system.

Michael Stillman completed his PhD at Harvard University in 1983 under the direction of David Mumford.

In 1983, he began work with Dave Bayer on the Macaulay computer algebra system, which they continued to improve until 1993.

To get beyond several limitations in the design of Macaulay, Stillman and Daniel Grayson began work on the Macaulay2 system in 1993.

[3] Stillman has over 30 mathematical publications, and has advised 11 PhD students.