diff --git a/ietf/person/models.py b/ietf/person/models.py
index dad650a18..7c368cabb 100644
--- a/ietf/person/models.py
+++ b/ietf/person/models.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class PersonInfo(models.Model):
     ascii_short = models.CharField("Abbreviated Name (ASCII)", max_length=32, null=True, blank=True, help_text="Example: A. Nonymous.  Fill in this with initials and surname only if taking the initials and surname of the ASCII name above produces an incorrect initials-only form. (Blank is OK).")
     affiliation = models.CharField(max_length=255, blank=True, help_text="Employer, university, sponsor, etc.")
     address = models.TextField(max_length=255, blank=True, help_text="Postal mailing address.")
-    biography = models.TextField(blank=True, help_text="Short biography for use on leadership pages.")
+    biography = models.TextField(blank=True, help_text="Short biography for use on leadership pages. Use plain text or reStructuredText markup.")
     photo = models.ImageField(storage=NoLocationMigrationFileSystemStorage(location=settings.PHOTOS_DIR),upload_to=settings.PHOTOS_DIRNAME,blank=True)
     photo_thumb = models.ImageField(storage=NoLocationMigrationFileSystemStorage(location=settings.PHOTOS_DIR),upload_to=settings.PHOTOS_DIRNAME,blank=True)
 
diff --git a/ietf/settings.py b/ietf/settings.py
index 9785095bf..7b8aa5586 100644
--- a/ietf/settings.py
+++ b/ietf/settings.py
@@ -271,6 +271,7 @@ INSTALLED_APPS = (
     'form_utils',
     'tastypie',
     'widget_tweaks',
+    'django_markup',
     # IETF apps
     'ietf.api',
     'ietf.community',
@@ -626,6 +627,20 @@ TRAC_ADMIN_CMD = "/usr/bin/trac-admin"
 TRAC_WIKI_DIR = "/a/www/www6s/trac"
 TRAC_SVN_DIR = "/a/svn/group"
 
+MARKUP_SETTINGS = {
+    'restructuredtext': {
+        'settings_overrides': {
+            'initial_header_level': 3,
+            'doctitle_xform': False,
+            'footnote_references': 'superscript',
+            'trim_footnote_reference_space': True,
+            'default_reference_context': 'view',
+            'link_base': ''
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+
 # Put the production SECRET_KEY in settings_local.py, and also any other
 # sensitive or site-specific changes.  DO NOT commit settings_local.py to svn.
 from settings_local import *            # pyflakes:ignore
@@ -651,3 +666,4 @@ if SERVER_MODE != 'production':
     if 'SECRET_KEY' not in locals():
         SECRET_KEY = 'PDwXboUq!=hPjnrtG2=ge#N$Dwy+wn@uivrugwpic8mxyPfHka'
     ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['*',]
+    
diff --git a/ietf/templates/person/profile.html b/ietf/templates/person/profile.html
index 1e70c8bd6..1b73bab44 100644
--- a/ietf/templates/person/profile.html
+++ b/ietf/templates/person/profile.html
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {% extends "base.html" %}
 {# Copyright The IETF Trust 2015, All Rights Reserved #}
 {% load origin %}
+{% load markup_tags %}
 
 {% block title %}Profile for {{ person }}{% endblock %}
 
@@ -11,7 +12,7 @@
 
   <div class="bio-text">
      <img class="bio-photo" src="{{ person.photo.url }}" alt="Photo of {{ person }}" />
-     {{ person.biography }}
+     {{ person.biography | apply_markup:"restructuredtext" }}
   </div>
 
 {% endblock %}
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index ebbe30c8b..c525931c9 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ decorator>=3.4.0
 defusedxml>=0.4.1		# for TastyPie when ussing xml; not a declared dependency
 Django>=1.7.10,<1.8
 django-bootstrap3>=5.1.1,<7.0.0 # django-bootstrap 7.0 requires django 1.8
+django-markup>=1.1
 django-tastypie>=0.13.1
 django-widget-tweaks>=1.3
 docutils>=0.12