[2] Ancelet obtained a doctorate in 1984 in Études Créoles (anthropology and linguistics) from the Université de Provence, (Aix-Marseille I) in Aix-en-Provence, France.

[2] Ancelet co-founded and acted as the Director the Tribute to Cajun Music, in 1974 and from 1976 to 1980,[4] which became the annual Festivals Acadiens.

[4] Ancelet has served as Chair of University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Department of Modern Languages and as the first Director of the university's Center for Acadian and Creole Folklore — regarded as the largest compilation of media resources pertaining to these two south Louisiana ethnic groups.

Ancelet hosted the Rendez-vous des Cajuns, a live weekly music radio program on KRVS for more than a decade.

In 2005, Ancelet was named the Willis Granger and Tom Debaillon BORSF Professor of Francophone Studies at University of Louisiana at Lafayette.