Skibo studied anthropology at Northern Michigan University from 1978 to 1982 and received a Bachelor of Science, Magna cum laude. He then attended the University of Arizona from 1982 to 1990 studying with the late William A. Longacre and Michael Brian Schiffer. There he received a Master of Arts in 1984 and a Ph.D. in anthropology in 1990. Since 1992 he has been at Illinois State University, where he taught as an assistant professor from 1992 to 1995, as an associate professor from 1996 to 2001, and since 2001 as a full professor. In 2012 he was appointed Distinguished Professor. Since 2014 Skibo has served as the Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
