Paul Fortier held degrees from the Universities of Toronto, Strasbourg and Wisconsin (Madison). A founder member of the ALLC, he was active in the computer-aided analysis of French literature since the early 1970s. His publications include books on the French novelists Camus, Céline, Gide and Robbe-Grillet. He also published articles on these authors, as well as Beckett and Malraux, on computer Braille production, on statistical and computer-aided techniques for the study of literature, and on literary theory.

One of his projects was the analysis of the social construction of aging, and of senile dementia, in France over the period 1789-1964 as reflected in the holdings of the Trésor de la Langue Française. More information on current and past projects can be found on his personal website.

Paul Fortier was a University Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, Canada) with appointments in the Department of French, Spanish and Italian, and in the Centre on Aging.