Austin D. Council was born on May 10th, 1990 in Bradenton, Florida. He attended Lakewood Ranch High School and upon graduation in 2008 enrolled in State College of Florida Sarasota-Manatee. Austin graduated with his Associate of Arts degree in 2010 and was accepted as a junior transfer to the University of Florida (UF). Austin would spend the next three years at UF, graduating in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and pursuing a Master of Arts in Education degree in 2013. Upon graduation with his masters, Austin accepted a teaching position at A.L. Mebane Middle School in Alachua, Florida where he taught U.S. History, Civics, and Language Arts. Austin was also the co-sponsor of an environmental service club and helped start the annual "Mebane’s Got Talent!" talent show. Austin would teach at Mebane for three years (2013-2016) before deciding to return to the University of Florida to pursue his Ph.D. in Agricultural Education and Communication. During his doctoral degree process, Austin served as a teaching assistant in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, and took classes on leadership, teaching and learning, extension and communication. Austin’s dissertation focuses on the relationship between humility and leadership in the context of agricultural leadership in the state of Florida. It is titled: Exploring the Development, Perceptions, and Expression of Humility Among Leaders in the Florida Agriculture and Natural Resources Industry. Austin, with the help of his advisor, Dr. Matthew Sowcik, and committee members Dr. Hannah Carter, Dr. Nicole Stedman, and Dr. Huan Chen, graduated in May of 2019. More recently, Austin was hired as an instructor of leadership for the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education at Virginia Tech. Austin teaches three courses at Virginia Tech: LDRS 1414: Exploring Citizen Leadership, LDRS 1424: Citizenship Leadership Praxis, and LDRS 4044: Leadership Studies Capstone. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Austin coordinates the Leadership and Social Change minor and also serves as a faculty fellow and liaison between the Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education and the Leadership and Social Change Residential College. In the fall of 2023 Austin was promoted from Instructor to Collegiate Assistant Professor.