Walter E. Hill earned his PhD in biophysics from the University of Wisconsin. He is currently an active undergraduate/graduate instructor at the University of Montana, in Missoula. He has received several awards pertaining to his study of ribosomes, including the NIH Career Development Award, the Distinguished Scholar Award, the Burlington Northern Distinguished Researcher Award, and the Montana Academy of Sciences Mershon Award. Hill has published more than fifty scholarly articles in scientific journals, written nine book chapters, and edited two books on ribosomes. He has a knack for making unfamiliar scientific nomenclature less intimidating to the non-science general reader.