Alec Hill was reared in Seattle by an amazing single mom and under the wings of two older brothers. At the age of seven, the four lived in Northern Mexico for a summer with a family with 14 children. This season had a profound impact on Alec's curiosity and cross-cultural imagination.

As a teenager, he attended (on scholarship) Lakeside High School with the two future founders of Microsoft. While in college, he volunteered with Young Life for three years. After law school, his regional World Relief team resettled one thousand refugees a year.

In his thirties, he became a professor and later a dean. His first book, a business ethics text entitled "Just Business," was written during this time period. He and his wife, Mary, reared two wonderful (and talented) daughters. In his forties, he was asked to lead InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA. For 14 frenetic years, he was part of an incredible missional community active on 700 university campuses.

In 2011, he contracted his first cancer. Four years later, he was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. After a successful transplant (with his brother, Grant, as donor), he now lives back in the Seattle area where he writes, teaches, and mentors. Over the years, he has traveled widely. Favorite places include Ethiopia, Mongolia, and Cambodia. Best loved novels include Silas Marner, My Antonia, and Peace Like a River. But biographies and history really are nearest to his heart.