Caroline Humphrey's PhD (1973) from the University of Cambridge was on 'Magical Drawings in the Religions of the Buryats', during which time she concurrently studied for a Master's degree in Mongolian studies at Leeds University. Since 1978 she has held appointments in the Department of Social Anthropology (Cambridge). Together with Urgunge Onon she founded the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit (MIASU) in 1986. She retired from her post as Sigrid Rausing Professor of Collaborative Anthropology, University of Cambridge, in October 2010 and became Director of MIASU. Professor Humphrey has worked extensively in Russia, Mongolia, China, India, Nepal and Ukraine.