Phil Tilney is a noted curator and scholar who has originated and curated nine exhibitions on folk culture, as well as consulting on numerous others. Educated at Indiana University and Harvard, he has received fellowships from Fulbright, Ford and the National Museums of Canada and has worked as a journalist, teacher and Head of the East European Studies Programme for the Centre for Folk Culture Studies at the National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of Civilization).

He specializes in folk culture and its artifacts, having written works on Canadian folk art, ethnic weddings, toys and family treasures. He has authored a number of films and ethnographic video documentaries for both the National Film Board and the Canadian Museum of Civilization (CMC) and has written several research documents for the CMC.

Phil Tilney is also a freelance writer-broadcaster whose work appears in various publications, as well as on CBC Television, national and international CBC Radio, and National Public Radio in the United States. He is heard regularly on CBO Morning and In Town and Out on CBC Ottawa and is heard weekly in syndication across the CBC's national radio network.

Mr. Tilney has received a number of awards for his work as an ethnographer and broadcaster, including several ACTRA awards for Best Commentary and a CBC Television Drama Award for the programme The Free Enterprise.

Mr. Tilney's hobbies include boating, restoring antique automobiles and working as a community volunteer for causes which range from arts and culture to crisis intervention. Currently a resident of Kennebunkport, Maine, Mr.Tilney is married and has two adult children.