Liechty teaches human behavior in the School of Social Work at Illinois State University, where he holds the rank of Professor. Liechty originally trained in academic religious studies (MA, Associated Mennonite Seminaries; PhD, University of Vienna, Austria) but put that training to work in mental health work, as a group specialist at The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital. He eventually earned two more graduate degrees (MSW, Bryn Mawr; DMin in pastoral counseling, Graduate Theological Foundation) and worked a number of years as Psychosocial Coordinator in the Montgomery Hospital Medical Center hospice program. His research and writing focuses generally on the edge between psychology and spirituality, and specifically on the work of social anthropologist Ernest Becker. He is Vice-President of The Ernest Becker Foundation. Liechty welcomes your comments and communications, and can be contacted at dliecht@ilstu.edu