Pál Michelberger was born in Hungary in 1930. He received the M.Sc., Ph.D., and D.Sc. degrees from the Technical University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary, in 1952, 1960, and 1970, respectively.,He has held several positions at the Technical University of Budapest: Professor (1968–present), Vice Dean (1968—71), Dean (1985–present), and Rector (1990–1994) of the Faculty of Transportation Engineering. His research interests include vehicle design, structure analysis, vehicle dynamics, and applied mechanics.

He is or has served as Editor-in-Chief of Acta Technica Hung (1986–2000), Periodica Polytechnica(1985–1991), and Vehicles, Agricult. Machines(1983–1999). He is a member of the Editorial Boards of Vehicle System Dynamics(1984–present), International Journal of Vehicle Design(1978–present), Periodica Polytechnica(1991–1995), and Technika(1996–present).,Dr. Michelberger has served as vice president (1978–1992) and president (1992–1994) of FISITA. He is a member of the Directory Board of IAVSD (1977–1981 and 1983–present), Academy Europae (1993–present), the International Academy of Higher Education (Moscow) (1994–present), IGIP (1993–present), Sigma Xi, the Russian Academy of Transport (SanktPetersburg) (1992–present), and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (Salzburg) (1998–present). He is an honorary member of VDI (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, Düsseldorf) and an Honorary Scholar. Since 1990, he has been an ordinary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.