Michael Burnham was raised on Vulcan, by Sarek and Amanda Grayson after the death of her parents. She joined Starfleet and was assigned to the USS Shenzhou under the command of Georgiou in 2249. Serving as a xenoanthropologist, she eventually rose to the rank of commander, and by 2256, had become Georgiou's first officer.

Burnham was convicted of mutiny against Captain Philippa Georgiou, for breaking Starfleet regulations, in a misguided attempt to save her captain and ship against the Klingons. She was stripped of her rank and sentenced to life imprisonment, but gained a second chance when she was assigned to the USS Discovery under Captain Gabriel Lorca. Due to her efforts in helping to bring an end to the Federation-Klingon War of 2256 she was pardoned by the Federation President in 2257, and restored to the rank of commander.

In order to prevent control from destroying the Galaxy, she travelled to the year, 3188, were she discovered that the Federation no longer existed. Discovery arrived one year later and together they defeated the Emerald Chain and started rebuilding the Federation. Burnham was promoted to Captain and given command of Discovery.

In this role, she led a diplomatic mission past the galactic barrier to make first contact with Species 10-C, something that placed her at odds with Cleveland Booker after his homeworld was destroyed by the Dark Matter Anomaly. Although Burnham was considered for command of the USS Voyager-J during this time, she turned it down in favor of remaining aboard Discovery. The following year, she and discovered sought out the Progenitor technology. Once found, she realized that it was too powerful for one civilization to have and chose to have Discovery throw the portal into the event horizon of a black hole.

Burnham would eventually become an Admiral, marrying Cleveland Booker and having a son together, named Leto Booker.