Steven Parker grew up and went to school in Connecticut. His only sibling was finishing a post doctorate at Yale and had accepted a job at one of the California State schools when his life was tragically ended through suicide. Parker graduated from Assumption College in Massachusetts with a bachelor's in political science and got a scholarship to the State University of New York at Albany. About halfway through his Master of Public Administration degree, the dean encouraged him to go on for his doctorate.

Dr. Patrick W. Carlton has been a professor of Educational Leadership since 2000 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Before coming to UNLV Dr. Carlton worked at Virginia Tech, the University of the Pacific, New York University, and at the U.S. Office of Education. Dr. Carlton earned his Masters in Education and Masters in History from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania and he earned his Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the University of North Carolina. Dr.