Edgar E Willis is Emeritus Professor of Communication at the University of Michigan, where he also served for ten years as department chairman.

For many years his lectures on the mystery of what causes people to laugh, have enlightened audiences all across America and in England where he spent a year as a Fulbright scholar.  He has authored or co-authored five books about television and radio.  His book "How to be Funny on Purpose" springs from his experiences as a teacher and lecturer and the crystallization of his thinking about the roots of humor.