He earned an M.A. in 1996 and Ph.D. in 1998 in East Asian religions from Princeton University. Dr. Ford's primary research centers on medieval Japanese Buddhism and he recently completed a manuscript titled Boundless Devotion: Jòkei (1155-1213) and the Discourse of Kamakura Buddhism. At present, he is executive secretary for the Society for the Study of Japanese Religion and serves on the steering committee for the Japanese Religions Group of the American Academy of Religion.