Dr. Kenneth J. Hammond is Professor of History and Director of The Confucius Institute at New Mexico State University. He earned his B.A. from Kent State University and his graduate degrees from Harvard University-an A.M. in East Asian Regional Studies and a Ph.D. in History and East Asian Languages. Professor Hammond's research focuses on the cultural and intellectual history of China in the late imperial era from the 10th through the 18th centuries, and especially the history of the Ming dynasty. He has published articles and translations on a wide range of subjects, including Chinese gardens, and is the editor of The Human Tradition in Premodern China, a biographical reader for undergraduate students. Professor Hammond received numerous grants and fellowships, including a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies to work with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, and an Affiliated Fellowship at the International Institute for Asian Studies at Leiden, the Netherlands. Professor Hammond is past president of the Society for Ming Studies and served on the board of directors of the Southwest Association for Asian Studies.