Richard K. Lester is Japan Steel Industry Professor and Head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT and Founding Director of MIT's Industrial Performance Center. He is the author or coauthor of The Productive Edge and other books.

David M. Hart is Professor in the School of Public Policy and Director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy at George Mason University. He is the author of Forged Consensus: Science, Technology, and Economic Policy in the United States, 1921–1953. He served as Assistant Director for Innovation Policy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2011 to 2012.