Francisco J. Varela (1946–2001) was Director of the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Professor of Cognitive Science and Epistemology, CREA, at the Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, and Cofounder of the Mind and Life Institute.

Evan Thompson is Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the author or coauthor of five books in cognitive science and philosophy, including The Embodied Mind (MIT Press).

Eleanor Rosch is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.