Edgar Wickberg was a professor of history at UBC from 1969 to 1992. Born in Oklahoma, he served in the US Army before earning a BA and an MA in history from the University of Oklahoma. In the 1950's he studied Chinese and Japanese language and Asian history at the University of California (Berkeley) and completed his Ph.D. in 1961 with a thesis on modern Chinese history. Wickberg taught at the University of Kansas from 1960 to 1969, with extended research periods in Taiwan. After joining the faculty of UBC, he taught courses on modern China and modern Chinese economic and social history. He made several research trips to mainland China, mainly Guangzhou (Canton), Nanjing (Nanking), and Hong Kong. In 1992 he was named Professor Emeritus at UBC. His main research interests are the history and current relationships of Chinese people outside China; land tenure systems in southern China since the 16th century; voluntary associations and ethnicity in Chinese society and overseas Chinese communities; and comparative histories of Chinese communities in Southeast Asia and North America. Wickberg also helped establish an exchange relationship between UBC and Guangzhou's Zhongshan University and the Vancouver Chinatown Historic Area Planning Committee. He has published several articles and two books: From China to Canada: A History of the Chinese Communities in Canada, which he wrote in collaboration with four other researchers and edited (1982), and The Chinese in Philippine Life (1965).