Thomas Wilson graduated with a BS in Physics from St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia and went on to study under B. F. Burke at MIT for his doctoral work in physics, which focused on 'Radio Studies of HII Regions.' After graduating from MIT, Wilson was a post-doctoral fellow at the NRAO in Charlottesville. Afterward Wilson was on staff at Max-Planck-Inst. f. Radioastronomy from 1969-2004, then Project Scientist (2004-6), Associate Director (2006-8) and at European Southern Observatory, Director of the Sub-mm Telescope Observatory (1997-2002), and subsequently Senior Scientist at ALMA (Atacama Large Mm/sub-mm Array) (Feb 2009 to March 2010). As of April 2010, he is the Branch Head at the Naval Research Laboratory.

Kristen Rohlfs studied Astronomy and Physics and received a PhD in 1961 in Hamburg. After his postdoctoral lecture qualification in 1965 he worked at the Max-Planck-Institute for Radioastronomy in Bonn. Starting in 1974 he taught at the Astronomy Institute Ruhr of University Bochum and is now emeritus professor.

Susanne Hüttemeister received a Ph.D. in Astronomy by the Bonn University. She had a position as Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge (USA) and teaching assignments at RWTH Aachen (Aachen Technical University) and Bonn University. Dr. Hüttemeister is now the Director of Bochum Planetarium and Adjunct Professor at the Astronomy Institute of Ruhr University Bochum.