Born after his father's desertion of the family, Michael Scofield was given his mother's maiden name as his surname.
When Michael was eleven and his older brother Lincoln was fifteen, their mother died of liver cancer. Lincoln became his guardian and took care of him. Having lost both their parents, Lincoln descended into a life of crime while preventing Michael from suffering the same fate.

Michael was a gifted pupil and finished Morton East High School with an impeccable record. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Loyola University in Chicago. He went on to become a successful structural engineer at the firm of Middleton, Maxwell and Schaum in downtown Chicago.

Characteristics
Clinically diagnosed with low latent inhibition, Michael is unable to block out periphery information and instead processes every aspect and detail of any given stimulus. This, combined with a high IQ, theoretically makes him a creative genius. Due to a feeling of abandonment during childhood, Michael developed very low self-worth making him extremely empathetic and altruistic towards other peoples emotions, as he is unable to block out their suffering. This explains Michael's desire to make huge sacrifices to help others.