Jan W. Walls is a Professor Emeritus in the Humanities Department at Simon Fraser University, where he was Founding Director of the David Lam Centre for International Communication and the undergraduate Asia-Canada Program. In addition to teaching at Aichi University in Japan, the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University, he also served as First Secretary for Cultural and Scientific Affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing (1981-83), and Senior Vice-President of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (1985-87). He has published many translations of traditional Chinese poetry and prose. He is currently a Director of the Canadian Society for Asian Arts, and serves as Honorary Advisor to the Chinese Canadian Writers Association, the Chinese Canadian Artists Federation of Vancouver, the Golden Panda International Film Festival, the International Arts Gallery, and other non-profit cultural organizations. He has been a trustee on the board of the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden Society, a director on the board of S.U.C.C.E.S.S., Co-President of the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society, and a member of the Government of British Columbia’s Multicultural Advisory Council. In 1992 he was awarded the Confederation Medal, and in 2012 the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, honoring Canadians who have made a significant contribution to their fellow citizens, to their community or to Canada.