ON THE COVER

Eugene Berry (Privileged, p. 44) is a serious microbiologist, which is to say he has an extremely impressive resume, pages long, listing degrees, funded research projects and articles published in scientific journals with titles like "Insertion of bovine sMT3B gene in the NS2-3 region of a cytopathic bovine viral diarrhea virus genome." He earned his doctorate in biology at Northeastern University in Boston, and has been on the faculty at North Dakota State University since 1987. He's earned many of the prestigious teaching awards on campus, including a seven-year string of preferred professor awards from the student honor group Mortar Board. His daughter, Andrea, lives in Pullman, Wash., and is starting a career in massage therapy. Daughter Marissa, Phoenix, teaches 4th grade in Glendale, Ariz.

Tim Sellnow (Raising a red flag, p. 10) grew up in the northern Minnesota town of Brainerd. He earned his bachelor's degree at St. Cloud State University, master's at North Dakota State University, and a doctorate at Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich., all in communication. He has taught in the Department of Communication at NDSU for 18 years. Since 2000 he has worked on funded research projects with the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His wife, Deanna, also is a professor of communication at NDSU. Their daughter, Debbie, is a sophomore in Political Science at the University of Minnesota and their son, Rick, is a sophomore at Fargo North High School. In his spare time, Tim enjoys working on his father's ranch in Wyoming, running marathons, and playing hockey.

A fourth-generation North Dakotan and third-generation rodeo cowboy, Shadd Piehl (First ride, p. 14) grew up near the Mouse River south of Minot, North Dakota. He has been a ranch hand, stockyard bird, hog hide shaver, warehouse lumper, teacher, and rodeo cowboy. As a saddle bronc rider, he competed for North Dakota State University in intercollegiate rodeo and was twice the Great Plains Region's bronc riding champion. Shadd has taught English in Belcourt and Casselton, and teaches at Aaker's Business College in Fargo. He lives in Fargo with his wife, Marnie, and sons, Owen, Wyatt and Ryder.