Stephen D. Brookfield has written, coauthored, and edited seventeen books on adult learning, teaching, and critical thinking, six of which have won the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education (in 1986, 1989, 1996, 2005, 2011, and 2012). He also won the 1986 Imogene Okes Award for Outstanding Research in Adult Education and the 2013 Phillip E. Frandson Award for Outstanding Literature in Continuing Education. His work has been translated into German, Finnish, Korean, Japanese, Polish, and Chinese. He has been awarded three honorary doctor of letters degrees from the University System of New Hampshire (1991), Concordia University (2003), and Muhlenberg College (2010) for his contributions to understanding adult learning and shaping adult education. In 2001 he received the Leadership Award from the Association for Continuing Higher Education (ACHE) for “extraordinary contributions to the general field of continuing education on a national and international level.” He currently serves on the editorial boards of educational journals in Britain, Canada, Italy, and Australia, as well as in the United States. During 2002 he was a visiting professor at Harvard University. After a decade as professor of higher and adult education at Columbia University in New York City, he has spent the last twenty years at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he holds the title of the John Ireland Endowed Chair. In 2008 he won the university's Diversity in Teaching and Research Award and the John Ireland Teaching and Scholarship Award. In 2008 he was also awarded the Morris T. Keeton Award from the Council on Adult and Experiential Learning. In 2009 he was inducted into the International Adult Education Hall of Fame.

Stephen Preskill was most recently named professor emeritus at Wagner College in Staten Island, New York. Previously, he was Distinguished Professor of Civic Engagement and Leadership in Wagner College's Center for Leadership and Engagement, where he helped to advance Wagner's commitment to community-engaged teaching and scholarship and played a significant role in supporting student participation in community-based activism and leadership development. He is the coauthor of three books: Stories of Teaching (2001), Discussion as a Way of Teaching (2nd ed.) (2005), and Learning as a Way of Leading (2009), as well as the author of numerous articles, book reviews, and op-ed pieces. He is passionate about democracy and its potential to transform colleges and communities. He has a BA in history from Ithaca College, masters' degrees in history and education from Long Island University and special education from the University of Vermont, and a PhD in educational policy studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.