Don Fredericksen, who began his teaching career at Cornell in 1971, is a professor of film, faculty affiliate in the Programs in Religious Studies and Visual Studies, and a longtime advisor and seminar teacher for the College Scholar Program. He earned a B.A. in English (honors) at Colgate University(1967), an M.A. in communication studies at the Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania(1969), a Ph.D. in film studies from the University of Iowa(1973), and an M.A. in counseling psychology, with an emphasis in Jungian psychotherapy, from Pacifica Graduate Institute(1991). He also studied for four years at the Namgyal Monastery Institute for Buddhist Studies, and later served on its executive board for several years. He has been awarded the College of Arts and Sciences' Paul Award for excellence in advising.

He has served on the executive committees of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies and the University Film and Video Association.  He served for many years as the book review editor for the Journal of Film and Video, and is currently on the editorial board of Image, an international film journal published in Poland. He was a member of the founding steering committee and first elected executive committee of the recently formed International Association for Jungian Studies; currently he serves as chairman of the association. He also presently serves on the executive committee of the Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies. In addition to his teaching and scholarly work, he also practices as Jung-oriented psychotherapist in Ithaca.