Dr. Johan Reinhard is currently (2007) an Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society.  He is also a Senior Research Fellow at The Mountain Institute, Washington, D.C., a Visiting Professor at Catholic University, Salta (Argentina), and an Honorary Professor of Catholic University, Arequipa (Peru).  Born in Illinois, he began his undergraduate studies in anthropology at the University of Arizona, before going on to receive his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Vienna, Austria (1974).  Much of Dr. Reinhard's current research focuses on the sacred beliefs and cultural practices of mountain peoples, especially in the Andes and the Himalayas.

Dr. Reinhard has conducted anthropological field research since 1980 in the Andean countries of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Ecuador.  His investigations have led him to present new theories to explain the mystery of pre-Hispanic ceremonial sites on mountain summits up to 6,739 m (22,109 feet), the Nazca Lines (giant desert drawings), and the ancient ceremonial centers of Machu Picchu, Chavin, and Tiahuanaco.  During 1989-92 he directed the first Andean underwater archaeological research project in Lake Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake.    

While making over 200 ascents over 5,200 m (17,000 feet) in the Andes, he led expeditions resulting in the discovery of more than 40 high altitude Inca ritual sites.  He directed teams that recovered four Inca human sacrifices on Ampato (6,312 m/20,708 feet).  One of these, the Inca Ice Maiden, was chosen by Time as one of “the world's ten most important scientific discoveries” of 1995.  His expeditions in the Andes during 1996-1999 led to the discovery of fourteen more Inca human sacrifices on five mountains above 5,500 m (ca.18,000 feet).  In 1999 he directed the excavations of three perfectly preserved mummies at 6,739 m/22,109 feet on Llullaillaco, the world’s highest archaeological site.  This discovery was chosen by Popular Science for their list of "The Best of 1999" and Time selected it as one of “the world’s ten most important scientific discoveries” of 1999—making Dr. Reinhard one of the few scientists to have had his work chosen twice for this distinction. 

He has lived more than ten years in the Himalayas, undertaking anthropological research primarily in Nepal, but also in Tibet, Bhutan, and India (Garhwal and Sikkim).  His studies include: 1. Himalayan shamanism (traditional religious practitioners)  2. The role of sacred mountains in Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism  3. The sacred "hidden lands" of Tibetan Buddhism (six of which he has explored) 4. One of the world's last nomadic hunting and gathering tribes (the Raute in western Nepal).  Elsewhere in Asia he has studied Muslim camel herders in Rajasthan and Muslim fishermen in the Maldive Islands (Indian Ocean).  While in Nepal, he directed Peace Corps Training Projects, was a member of teams that made some of the first rafting descents of Himalayan rivers, and was a member of the successful 1976 American Everest Expedition. 

While living in Austria, Dr. Reinhard participated in that country's first underwater archaeological project (a Neolithic site at Mondsee).  He was also a member of teams which undertook nautical archaeological research of Roman shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea off southern Italy and of an Iron Age Villanovan village in an Italian lake (Lago di Bolsena).  He has investigated sacred mountains and traditional religion in Greece and in Bali, Indonesia.  He has served as a cinematographer for the BBC, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Scientific Film Institute of Germany, and his research has been featured in several TV documentaries, including National Geographic Explorer, BBC, NOVA, PBS, and Discovery.  He has lectured on cruise ships traveling in the Caribbean, along the Pacific coast of South America, and to Antarctica, the Galapagos, and Easter Island.  He speaks Spanish, Nepali, German, and Raji, a tribal language of Nepal, and found and analyzed Kusunda, one of the world's rarest languages. 

Dr. Reinhard has over seventy publications, including six books and is a member of several organizations, including the American Anthropological Association, the American Alpine Club, the Institute of Andean Studies, the Explorers Club, and the Royal Geographical Society.  Three museums have been built to exhibit the archeological finds made during his expeditions: the Museum of High Mountain Sanctuaries in Arequipa, Peru; the Museum of High Mountain Archaeology in Salta, Argentina; and a site museum in the village of Challapampa, Island of the Sun, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia. 

He is a recipient of the 1987 Rolex Award for Enterprise in the field of exploration for his Andean research.  Dr. Reinhard was a principal contributor for a book on high altitude archaeology called "one of the most important mountaineering books of the century" in the American Alpine Journal.  In 1992 he received the Puma de Oro, Bolivia's highest award in the field of archaeology, and in 1996 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the city of Arequipa for his archaeological research in southern Peru. The Junior Library Guild selected his book for school children on his discovery of the Ice Maiden as an "Outstanding Book" in 1998.  In 1997 he was twice noted in the Guinness Book of Records.  His article for National Geographic about the Llullaillaco discoveries was chosen number one in the 1999 readers poll and was the highest scoring article in the archaeology/anthropology category for the previous five years.  In 2000 he was selected by Outside magazine as one of “today’s 25 most extraordinary adventurers, outdoor athletes, and explorers.”   In 2001 the Ford Motor Company chose him as one of twelve "Heroes for the Planet."  In 2002 his finds of the frozen Inca mummies were highlighted by Time in their book Great Discoveries about the world’s most important finds in all fields of science, and he was awarded the Explorers Medal of the Explorers Club of New York.  His latest book The Ice Maiden: Inca Mummies, Mountain Gods, and Sacred Sites in the Andes was published in 2005.