Jim R. Kirkwood holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. He has had ten mathematics textbooks published on various topics including calculus, real analysis, mathematical biology and mathematical physics. His original research was in mathematical physics, and he co-authored the seminal paper in a topic now called Kirkwood-Thomas Theory in mathematical physics. During the summer, he teaches real analysis to graduate students at the University of Virginia. He has been awarded several National Science Foundation grants

Bessie H. Kirkwood also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, where she worked as a statistical consultant. She co-authored several papers in the publications such as the Journal of Algebra and the Journal of Multivariate Analysis. She was also a professor of mathematics at Sweet Briar College.