He was a Peace Corps Volunteer and Trainer in Samoa from 1970-1976, and founded the Samoan language program at the University of Hawaiʻi in 1976. He teaches introductory through advanced Samoan language courses and is a graduate faculty in Pacific Islands Studies. He has an MA in ESL and a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Hawaiʻi and holds two chiefly titles – Fepuleai from Savaii and Lasei from Manono.