Robert L. Heath, professor emeritus of communication at the University of Houston, is an internationally recognized authority on public relations, crisis communication, issues management, risk communication, and business-to-business communication. He has published many award-winning books, including The SAGE Handbook of Public Relations (2010), Handbook of Risk and Crisis Communication (2009), Strategic Issues Management (2nd ed., 2009), Rhetorical and Critical Approaches to Public Relations II (2009), and Terrorism: Communication and Rhetorical Perspectives (2008).

Heath has 3 decades' experience in corporate communication and positioning research. He has conducted research on risks related to various hazards, including those associated with chemical manufacturing and community right-to-know-key themes in community relations. In addition, he has published more than 100 chapters and articles and serves on the editorial and reviewer panels of several premier academic journals. He has received many honors from public relations professionals and academic associations and has lectured nationally and internationally on a wide array of topics.

Michael J. Palenchar is an assistant professor in public relations at The University of Tennessee's School of Advertising and Public Relations, College of Communication and Information (Ph. D., University of Florida; M.A., University of Houston). Research interests include risk communication and issues management related to manufacturing, community relations and community awareness of emergency response protocols and manufacturing risks, community right to know issues, crisis communication, front groups and general public relations. He has more than a decade of professional experience working in corporate, non-profit and agency, as well as a risk communication and issues management research consultant for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to local government agencies to nongovernmental agencies. His research has been published in the Journal of Public Relations Research, Public Relations Review, Public Relations Journal, Environmental Communication and Communication Research Reports. He has five book chapters on risk, terrorism and professional ethics and more than 40 regional, national or international communication conference papers, winning 12 national or international top paper awards. With co-author Robert L. Heath in 2000 and Kathy Fitzpatrick in 2007, he won the Pride Award from the Public Relations Division, National Communication Association, for top published article in the field of public relations. He is an active member of AEJMC, NCA, PRSA, and ICA.