A faculty member in the psychology department at the University of Hawaii for 42 years, 15 of which were spent as Department Chair, Dr. Minke was trained as an experimental psychologist specializing in basic and applied human learning. He was educated at Arizona State University and the University of Wisconsin, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1968. Although not a clinical psychologist, he served as Director of Clinical Studies his last two years at U.H. before retirement. He was introduced to mindfulness by Jimmy Toyama as he was forming the group that evolved into Mindful Hawaii and has been active with them ever since. His focus has been the scientific research on mindfulness, particularly in psychology and other health fields, and its applications to clinical practice. He currently heads up the Science sector of that organization.