Robert L. Payton (1927-2011) was president of C.W. Post College and Hofstra University, a State Department official, ambassador to Cameroon, head of the Exxon Education Foundation, and was the first director of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. He is author of Philanthropy: Voluntary Action for the Public Good.

Michael P. Moody is Assistant Professor in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at the University of Southern California. He is a cultural sociologist whose work focuses on the theory and practice of philanthropy.