John Cornell received his Bachelors in Music from the University of California, Berkeley, and continued his studies in Modern European History at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He received his PhD there in 1997, specializing in modern French musical culture. He moved to Warsaw in 2008, and has been working with the Pilecki Institute since 2016, aiding with programs such as their database of post-war testimonies "Chronicles of Terror" and directing their workshop series "English in Academia". As an adjunct with the Institute's Center for the Study of Totalitarianisms, his research projects have included relations between the Polish Government-in-Exile and the British Government during the Second World War, and the work of the Polish Government with the United Nations War Crimes Commission. Currently he is studying youth subcultures and music during the Polish People’s Republic.