Tom Boellstorff

Areas of Specialization: Anthropology of Sexuality
Tom Boellstorff is a University of California, Irvine-based anthropologist famous and respected for his work on the anthropology of sexuality, globalization, linguistics and more. He earned bachelor’s degrees in music and linguistics and his Ph.D. in anthropology from Stanford University, where he went on to teach.

Boellstorff has been active in both LGBT activism and research, serving in roles with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and the Institute for Community Health Outreach. He has held chair for the Association for Queer Anthropology and is a fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies.

His research into LGBT issues has taken him from Indonesia to virtual worlds, including a study that took place within the online virtual reality game Second Life. His work was recognized with the Ruth Benedict Prize, awarded by the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of American Anthropologist, and is co-editor of a Princeton book series titled, Princeton Studies in Culture and Technology.

His work in Second Life yielded a book, Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human. His research articles have been published in American Anthropologist, the Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, and the Annual Review of Anthropology.

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