Bryan W. Van Norden has a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania (1985), and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford University (1991.)

Professor Van Norden holds appointments in both the Philosophy Department and in the Asian Studies Program at Vassar. His primary area of research and teaching is Chinese philosophy, but he also teaches Introduction to Asian Studies, Traditional Chinese Literature, and courses on western philosophy.

Professor Van Norden has written on Confucius and the later Confucians Mencius and Xunzi, as well as Laozi (Lao Tzu) and Zhuangzi (Chuagn Tzu.) He translated selections from the writings of Mencius for Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy (which he also co-edited,) and was a guest lecturer at the University of Beijing.