Michael Charles Billone

Michael Billone, age 82, nuclear scientist, raconteur, beloved father and grandfather, died on February 21, 2026 in Naperville, Illinois. Whether we knew him as Mike, Mickey, Dr. Billone, Dad, Nonno, or Spike, we loved him.

The eldest son of the late Charles Martin and Christina Maria Viscardi Billone, Mike is survived by his wife, Christine Wahl Billone; children, Amy Christine Billone and Nina Billone (Denis Martin) Prieur; grandchildren, Charles Michael and Nicholas McClellan Burke, and Louisa Margaret and Rosa "Rosie" Vivian Prieur; and other relatives, colleagues, and friends.

Mickey grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, the grandson of immigrants from Sicily and Naples, in a large and boisterous family that honed the art of telling a good story (and a dirty joke). At Stamford High School, he met Christine and fell in love with her and her whole family, a romance that gave him both a passion for literature and a lifetime of material. He took that gift to Dartmouth and then to Northwestern, where he earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering and put down roots in the Chicago area.

It was at Northwestern that Dr. Billone began a 50-year career at the forefront of nuclear materials science. He served for six years as associate professor in Northwestern's Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Department and joined Argonne National Laboratory in 1984, where he worked until 2026. From contributing to the science behind next-generation fusion reactors to ensuring the secure storage of spent fuel, his work made the world's energy systems safer and more sustainable. Early in his career, he served as a materials and modeling expert for ITER, the international fusion reactor project, as part of a multinational team spanning the US, Europe, and Japan. That work, among the most ambitious scientific research of the 20th century, established the foundation for what may one day become a transformative source of clean energy. For nearly two decades, he led research on nuclear fuel rod cladding, which informed the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's safety standards for the country's commercial reactors. He led a team that in 2018 received the Secretary of Energy Achievement Award, the Department of Energy's highest honor, for demonstrating that high-burnup fuel discharged from commercial reactors can be stored and transported safely. More than any paper or award, though, he measured his career by the teams he led and the next generation of scientists he mentored.

No one in his family really understood what he did as an engineer; and to this day, both of his children still kind of think he drove a train.

Mike was a scientist with the soul of an artist. A gifted writer, toastmaster, and eulogizer, he set a high bar for anyone who might one day attempt to pay tribute to him. He delighted hundreds of friends, family members, and health club enthusiasts with Spike Malone's satires of modern life. Favorites from his infamous newsletter include "Faulty Appliances," "The Spy Who Loved Me," and his "Ambiguous Adventures" series. His children also treasure The Italian Connection, his family history, which impeccably blends fact and folklore. In recent years, he entertained his children and grandchildren with weekly video chats where they traded absurdist anecdotes about the foibles of AI and held regular grievance hours where they shared their complaints from the week, commended the most impressive indignity, and then laughed at it all together.

No one loved a story more than Mike. In lieu of a formal service, his family invites you to share yours here or with them directly at rememberingmikebillone@gmail.com.