Jordan Peterson

Born in Alberta in 1962, Peterson built an academic career across McGill, Harvard, and the University of Toronto, publishing Maps of Meaning in 1999 - a dense synthesis of psychology, mythology, and belief systems. In 2016, he released videos opposing Bill C-16, arguing it would compel certain pronoun usage; the controversy launched him from lecture halls into international visibility. He published 12 Rules for Life in 2018, which became a bestseller promoted through a world tour, though he soon paused clinical and teaching work amid benzodiazepine dependence that affected him through 2019 and 2020. He resigned from Toronto in 2021, released Beyond Order, and became chancellor of the unaccredited Ralston College in 2022. In 2025, chronic inflammatory response syndrome hospitalized him for five months; he has remained under assisted care and out of public view since June.