Norma Stumbo is a respected author and educator at the leading edge of the therapeutic recreation field, and has been the lead author on Therapeutic Recreation Program Design since the third edition. She boasts the highest name recognition in the world in the TR field. A prolific writer and researcher, Stumbo has received numerous awards throughout her career, such as the Presidential Citation from the National Therapeutic Recreation Society (2006), the Jorndt Outstanding Graduate Student/Faculty Mentor Award (Illinois State University, 2004), and the Outstanding University Researcher Award (Illinois State University, 1998). She taught for more than two decades at Illinois State University and is currently coordinating a National Science Foundation grant at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Carol Peterson is another universally-known name in the field of therapeutic recreation. She has spent over 20 years as a university faculty member in the discipline. Her text, Therapeutic Recreation Program Design, is considered the Bible of therapeutic recreation. She is a founding member of the American Therapeutic Recreation Association and was president of the National Therapeutic Recreation Society from 1980-81. She is the former Dean of the College of Human Performance and Development at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is now retired, but is actively engaged in professional development of current TR practitioners through workshops and presentations.