S. Joseph Levine is Professor Emeritus of Adult Education/Extension Education at Michigan State University. His academic and primary research background is in the area of adult learning and he enjoys combining that with his long time interest in music, electronics/radio and technology. He has degrees in music education, guidance and counseling, and curriculum research. As an educator he has focused primarily on helping people learn, rather than "teaching" people. Empowering the learner is a major emphasis of his own teaching and the instructional materials he has developed. His strong interest in distance education was initiated in 1966 when he received a grant from the Library of Congress to develop the Recorded Aid for Braille Music – a complete learn-at-home recorded method to assist blind learners in playing a musical instrument. In the years that followed he extended his development activities internationally with work in Indonesia and Mexico, developed a popular online course to help people become better distance educators, and directed university graduate programs in adult education and extension education. When not designing educational programs he can be found speaking worldwide via his amateur radio station (W8JRK).