Geboren 1957 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, Studium Anthropology and Religious Studies, B.A. Magna cum laude (1979); University of California, Santa Barbara, California, Studium Religious Studies, M.A (1982); Universität Oxford, Studium Social Anthropology, Dr. Phil. (1988). Professor für Transnational Anthropology, Universität Oxford; Direktor, Economic & Social Research Council (UK) - Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS); Senior Research Fellow, Linacre College, Oxford; Co-Direktor, Institute for International Migration (IMI), James Martin 21st Century School, Universität Oxford; [seit November 2007] Direktor des Max-Planck-Instituts zur Erforschung multireligiöser und multiethnischer Gesellschaften, Göttingen.