Until his retirement from teaching in 2018, Roy R. Behrens was Professor and Distinguished Scholar at the University of Northern Iowa. He had taught graphic design, illustration, and design history at UNI and other universities and art schools for more than 45 years. The author of seven books, and literally hundreds of articles in books, journals, magazines, and encyclopedias, he has appeared in broadcast interviews on NOVA, National Public Radio, 99% Invisible, Australian Public Radio, BBC, Iowa Public Television, and documentary films. He was nominated for the National Design Awards, received the Iowa Board of Regents Faculty Excellence Award, and has been described in Communication Arts magazine as "one of the most original thinkers in design." For many years, he was art director for The North American Review, and a contributing editor for PRINT, the preeminent New York graphic design magazine.