Tim Dean is a British philosopher, author, notable in the field of contemporary queer theory, and author of several works on the subject: Gary Snyder and the American Unconscious (1991), Beyond Sexuality (2000), and Unlimited Intimacy: Reflections on the Subculture of Barebacking (2009), all published by the University of Chicago Press, and a co-editor of Homosexuality and Psychoanalysis (2001). Dean first became a British civil servant before attending the University of East Anglia, during which time he participated in a Junior Year Abroad program at Brandeis University, and wrote his undergraduate dissertation on Gary Snyder before graduating BA with First Class Honours in American Studies. He subsequently earned his PhD at Johns Hopkins University (doctoral dissertation on Hart Crane). He was a Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center (1997-1998). He teaches at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).