Dudley L. Poston, Jr, is Professor of Sociology and the George T. and Gladys H. Abell Endowed Professor of Liberal Arts at Texas A & M University. He holds adjunct professorships at Renmin University of China, Beijing; Fuzhou University, China; and Nanjing University, China. He previously served on the rural sociology and sociology faculties, respectively, of Cornell University, New York and the University of Texas, Austin. Professor Poston has coauthored or edited eighteen books and has authored or coauthored more than 300 journal articles and book chapters on various sociological and demographic topics.
Leon F. Bouvier, at the time of his death in 2011, was Professor of Sociology at Old Dominion University, Virginia. He was also Adjunct Professor at the Payson Center for International Development at Tulane University, Louisiana. He previously served as Vice President of the Population Reference Bureau in Washington, DC; as a demographic consultant to two congressional committees; and as a consultant to the United States Agency for International Development. He coauthored or edited fifteen books and numerous articles and book reviews.