L. R. Poos is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Cambridge. He was a fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge (1980-1983) and since 1983 has been a member of the faculty of the Department of History at The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, where he also served as Dean of Arts and Sciences (2002-2014). His research focuses upon late-medieval and early-modern England, and the history of family, law, and rural society. His other interests include digital humanities (especially Geographical Information Systems), global food history, and early Japanese history.