Sally Mason, president emerita of the University of Iowa, provides a foreword.

Mary Anne Fitzpatrick is an Educational Foundation Distinguished Professor of Psychology, the vice president for system planning, and former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Carolina. Prior to her appointment at the University of South Carolina, Fitzpatrick served in various administrative roles at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she also held the WARF Kellett Professorship. She was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences in 2012. Fitzpatrick also served as the president of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (2012-2013). An internationally recognized authority on interpersonal communication, Fitzpatrick is the author of more than one hundred articles, chapters, and books.