David F. Lancy, originally from western Pennsylvania, earned degrees from Yale and the University of Pittsburgh. He has done fieldwork in Liberia, Papua New Guinea, Trinidad, Sweden and the United States. His research interests include the study of cultural influences on children's literacy, ethnographic research methods, and the anthropology of childhood.

Dr. Lancy's teaching interests include the study of ancient civilizations, especially Egypt, and the anthropology of childhood. He currently teaches four courses: Civilization/Humanities (USU 1320), Anthropology and Education (ANTH 2010 Peoples of the Contemporary World), Archaeology of Ancient Civilizations (ANTH 3350), and the Anthropology of Childhood (ANTH 4120).
From 1996 to 2001 he and a team of students gathered material on Ancient Egypt to incorporate into an instructional CD-ROM called "Whose Mummy Is It?" This interactive CD-ROM has been used in Dr. Lancy's USU 1320 class for over five years.

In 1999, Dr. Lancy initiated a national program to support undergraduate research. In 2001, he was honored by the Carnegie Foundation as Utah's Professor of the Year.

Since 1996, David Lancy has regularly led anthropology tours including several to Egypt, as well as Central Asia, the Middle East, Morocco, and Turkey