Charles Li is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics and former Dean of the Graduate Division (1989-2006) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. An author and editor of numerous linguistics books and articles, Li's memoir of the first twenty years of his life, The Bitter Sea: Coming of Age in a China before Mao, received wide critical acclaim. The book was chosen by Baruch College of the City University of New York as required reading for the 2010 Freshman Class and was adapted for the stage at the Baruch Performing Arts Center. In 2017, an NPR podcast featured the book.