Wilhelm Meya has received many acknowledgements and awards for societal and scientific achievement for his work in language preservation. In 2005, he established The Language Conservancy (TLC) and currently serves as the non-profit’s CEO. Wil is a graduate of Indiana University with his Master of Science in Anthropology. He received an M.A. from the University of Arizona as well. While in a Ph.D. program in 2002, he partnered with linguist, Jan Ulrich, and eventually established the Lakota Language Consortium.