Markus Schoof was born and raised in East Germany. After finishing high school in Germany, he lived as a social worker in Colombia. He earned his PhD at the Ohio State University and specializes in the history of U.S. foreign relations. Schoof has taught courses on the history of the United States, Latin America, and the world. His dissertation was entitled, “American Missionaries and the Remaking of U.S.-Brazilian Relations, 1930-1988.”