Diane Larsen-Freeman received her PhD in linguistics from the University of Michigan. Following appointments at UCLA and the Graduate SIT Institute (where she remains affiliated as distinguished senior faculty fellow), she returned to the University of Michigan in January 2002 to direct the English Language Institute for six years. She is currently a research scientist emerita at the English Language Institute, as well as a professor of education emerita, a professor of linguistics emerita, and a faculty associate of the Center for the Study of Complex Systems at Michigan. Larsen-Freeman has made presentations in sixty-five countries around the world and is the author of eight books. She was the editor of the journal Language Learning for five years.