Jack McIver Weatherford is the DeWitt Wallace Professor of anthropology at Macalester College in Minnesota. He is renowned for his 2004 book, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. In 2006, he was awarded the Order of the Polar Star, and the Order of Genghis Khan in 2022, both of which are Mongolia’s two highest national honors. Furthermore, he received the Order of the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho from the Government of Bolivia in 2014.

Weatherford's works in the late 20th century focus on the influence of Native American cultures and have been translated into numerous languages. He has contributed chapters and reviews in academic books and journals and has published numerous articles in national newspapers to popularize his historic and anthropological coverage of Native American cultures, as well as the American political culture in Congress in the 20th century.

In recent years, he has concentrated his research on the Mongols, examining their impact since the time Genghis Khan united the Mongol tribes in 1206.