Paul S. Boyer, Merle Curti Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University. An editor of NOTABLE AMERICAN WOMEN, 1607-1950 (1971), he also co-authored SALEM POSSESSED: THE SOCIAL ORIGINS OF WITCHCRAFT (1974), for which, with Stephen Nissenbaum, he received the John H. Dunning Prize of the American Historical Association. His other works include URBAN MASSES AND MORAL ORDER IN AMERICA, 1820-1920 (1978), BY THE BOMB'S EARLY LIGHT: AMERICAN THOUGHT AND CULTURE AT THE DAWN OF THE ATOMIC AGE (1985), WHEN TIME SHALL BE NO MORE: PROPHECY BELIEF IN MODERN AMERICAN CULTURE (1992), and PROMISES TO KEEP: THE UNITED STATES SINCE WORLD WAR… II (3e, 2003). He is also editor-in-chief of the OXFORD COMPANION TO UNITED STATES HISTORY (2001). His articles and essays have appeared in the "American Quarterly," "New Republic," and other journals. He has been a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles; Northwestern University; and the College of William and Mary.
Joseph F. Kett, James Madison Professor of History at the University of Virginia, received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. His works include THE FORMATION OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL PROFESSION: THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS, 1780-1860 (1968), RITES OF PASSAGE: ADOLESCENCE IN AMERICA, 1790-PRESENT (1977), THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE UNDER DIFFICULTIES: FROM SELF-IMPROVEMENT TO ADULT EDUCATION IN AMERICA, 1750-1990 (1994), and THE NEW DICTIONARY OF CULTURAL LITERACY (2002), of which he is co-author. A former History Department chair at Virginia, he also has participated on the Panel on Youth of the President's Science Advisory Committee, has served on the Board of Editors of the "History of Education… Quarterly," and is a past member of the Council of the American Studies Association.
Neal Salisbury, Barbara Richmond 1940 Professor Emeritus in the Social Sciences (History), at Smith College, received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of MANITOU AND PROVIDENCE: INDIANS, EUROPEANS, AND THE MAKING OF NEW ENGLAND, 1500-1643 (1982), editor of THE SOVEREIGNTY AND GOODNESS OF GOD, by Mary Rowlandson (1997), and co-editor, with Philip J. Deloria, of THE COMPANION TO AMERICAN INDIAN HISTORY (2002). With R. David Edmunds and Frederick E. Hoxie, he has written THE PEOPLE: A HISTORY OF NATIVE AMERICA (2007). He has contributed numerous articles to journals and edited collections and co-edits a book series, CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN NORTH AMERICAN… INDIAN HISTORY. He is active in the fields of colonial and Native American history and has served as president of the American Society for Ethnohistory and on the Council of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture.