Karen K. Kirst-Ashman is Professor Emerita and former chairperson in the Social Work Department at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she taught for 28 years. She has written six social work textbooks in multiple editions and numerous publications, articles, and reviews on social work and women's issues. She also has served on the Editorial Board of AFFILIA: Journal of Women and Social Work, and as a consulting editor for many social work journals including the Journal of Social Work Education. Dr. Kirst-Ashman has been a member on the Board of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and has served as a CSWE accreditation site visitor on various occasions. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Wisconsin. She has been the recipient of both the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Roseman Award for Excellence in Teaching and the University Outstanding Teaching Award. She earned her BSW degree and MSSW degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Ph.D. in social work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has worked as a practitioner and administrator in child welfare and mental health agencies.

Grafton Hull is Professor Emeritus at the University of Utah College of Social Work. He founded and directed the College's BSW Program. He has 38 years of experience teaching at BSW, MSW, and Ph.D. levels. His practice experience includes work in human service agencies providing mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice programs. He holds a BS in sociology, an MSW, and a doctorate in education (counseling, guidance, and personnel services). Hull is the co-author of eight texts and numerous articles in social work journals. He has served on the CSWE Board of Directors, Commission on Accreditation, and Nominations Committee; and as a President of the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors (BPD), from which he received the Significant Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. His biography is listed in WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA.