Michael Harner (born 27 April 1929) is the founder of the "Foundation for Shamanic Studies" and the formulator of "core shamanism." Trained as an anthropologist, he taught at the University of California, Berkeley, Columbia University, Yale University, and the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research, where he chaired the anthropology department. In 1987 Harner left academic anthropology to devote himself full-time to the study and teaching of shamanism as president of the non-profit Foundation for Shamanic Studies.