James Cardie is from Brainerd, a small town in central Minnesota. He attended Catholic grade school in Brainerd and a boarding high school in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin.

James earned an undergraduate degree at Holy Cross in western Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He did research (physical experiments and numerical modeling) at St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory, created a computer program that was used in the design of many large storm sewer systems

Marshall Mack Dawson was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 30th, 1938. His employment with Nevada Power Company began once he was discharged from the service in 1963.