Ross H. Cordy was the branch chief of archaeology in the State of Hawaii's Historic Preservation Division, having headed that office and program for 16 years. He is currently the Humanities Division chair at the University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu where he teaches Hawaiian and Pacific Islands studies courses and a few archeology courses. Cordy is a volunteer archeology instructor for the Waianae High School - Hawaiian Studies Program, where he teaches hands-on archeology, history and historic preservation issues.
He has conducted research on Hawaiian archaeological and historical topics since 1968. He has done fieldwork throughout the Hawaiian Islands, on all the major Micronesian Islands, and in the Society Islands, and taught at universities in New Zealand. His writings include more than 80 published articles, books and monographs and numerous manuscript papers on a wide variety of Pacific subjects.
Cordy was raised in Davis, California, and received his BA from University of California, Santa Barbara, MA from University of Michigan and Ph.D. from University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.