Peter Slater was born in England and raised in Myanmar, Australia, and Canada. He received degrees in philosophy and theology from McGill, Cambridge, and Harvard. At the time of his talk, he was Dean Emeritus of Divinity at Trinity College at the University of Toronto. Slater was also a former member of the Partners in World Mission Committee of the Anglican Church. He was the author of Religion and Culture in Canada (1978) and co-editor of Traditions in Contact and Change (2006).