Michael R. Leming, a professor emeritus of sociology and anthropology at St. Olaf College in Minnesota (USA), taught courses on death and dying for over 35 years. For nearly 20 years, he also directed the Spring Semester in Thailand, a program affiliated with Chiang Mai University. In addition to his B.A. from Westmont College, M.A. from Marquette University and Ph.D. from the University of Utah, he has done graduate study at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Dr. Leming is co-editor (with George E. Dickinson) of ANNUAL EDITIONS: DYING, DEATH AND BEREAVEMENT, 15th edition (McGraw-Hill, 2017) and co-author of UNDERSTANDING FAMILIES: DIVERSITY, CONTINUITY, AND CHANGE (Allyn & Bacon, 1990; Harcourt Brace, 1995). He is also co-editor (with Raymond DeVries and Brendan Furnish) of THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: A VALUE-COMMITTED INTRODUCTION (Zondervan, 1989; Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2009). In 1995 Dr. Leming produced the documentary film The Karen of Musikhee: Rabbits in the Mouth of the Crocodile". His most recent film project was a documentary on the Karen produced by the BBC, for which he was the chief research consultant. The founder and former director of the St. Olaf College Social Research Center, Dr. Leming is a former member of the board of directors of the Minnesota Coalition on Terminal Care and the Northfield AIDS Response, and he has served as a hospice educator, volunteer and grief counselor. During Minnesota’s coldest months, he lives in Thailand."
