Linc Kesler has a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. from The University of Toronto, both in English literature. He is now an emeritus professor at the University of British Columbia. In his early career he taught early modern English literature and literary theory at Oregon State University, while also leading the establishment of the state’s first Ethnic Studies department and other services for American Indian and other under-represented students and working on oral history and other projects with Oregon tribal organizations. In 2003 he became the first director of First Nations and Indigenous Studies at UBC, developing curriculum centered on research partnerships with Indigenous communities and organizations and advanced uses of digital technologies. He subsequently became the Director of the First Nations House of Learning and Senior Advisor to the President on Aboriginal Affairs, leading the development and implementation of the UBC Aboriginal Strategic Plan and the establishment of units such as the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health, and the Indigenous Research Support Initiative. Since leaving teaching and administration, he has returned to research on early modern English drama. His Indigenous ancestry is Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota.