About the Authors
Ayn Rand (1905–1982) was born in Russia, graduated from the University of Leningrad, and came to the United States in 1926. She published her first novel in 1936. With the publication of The Fountainhead in 1943, she achieved a spectacular and enduring success, and her unique philosophy, Objectivism, gained a worldwide following.
Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was born in Odense, Denmark, the son of a poor shoemaker and a washerwoman. As a young teenager, he became quite well known in Odense as a reciter of drama and as a singer. When he was fourteen, he set off for the capital, Copenhagen, determined to become a national success on the stage. He failed miserably, but made some influential friends in the capital who got him into school to remedy his lack of proper education. In 1829 his first book was published. After that, books came out at regular intervals. His stories began to be translated into English as early as 1846. Since then, numerous editions, and more recently Hollywood songs and Disney cartoons, have helped to ensure the continuing popularity of the stories in the English-speaking world.
Leonard Peikoff is universally recognized as the preeminent Rand scholar writing today. He worked closely with Ayn Rand for thirty years and was designated by her as heir to her estate. He has taught philosophy at Hunter College, Long Island University, and New York University. Peikoff for many years lectured on Rand’s philosophy throughout the country. He lives in Southern California.
Harry Binswanger is a philosopher and writer. He is an Objectivist and was a long-time associate of Ayn Rand, working with her on The Ayn Rand Lexicon. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Binswanger received his Bachelor of Science degree in humanities and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his PhD in philosophy from Columbia University. He is the author of The Biological Basis of Teleological Concepts and the editor of Introduction to Objectivist Epistimology. He is currently on the board of directors of the Ayn Rand Institute.
Edwin A. Locke is a widely-published scholar with fifteen years of clinical experience and more than three decades as a professor of psychology at the University of Maryland. Locke is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society; he is also a guest lecturer at the Ayn Rand Institute. He earned his doctorate at Cornell University and his BS from Harvard University.
Richard M. Salsman, CFA, is founder, president, and chief market strategist of InterMarket Forecasting, an investment research and forecasting firm based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Salsman, a noted authority on banking and capitalism, is the author of two books, Gold and Liberty and Breaking the Banks: Central Banking Problems and Free Banking Solutions. His articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Barron’s, Forbes, and the National Post. Salsman lectures widely at investment gatherings and universities, including Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Jaana Woiceshyn holds a BBA and an MBA from the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration and a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania. She has taught strategic management and business ethics to undergraduate, MBA, and executive MBA students at the Haskayne School of Business since 1987; she has also given seminars on these subjects to various business audiences, including the Directors’ Program at Haskayne. Her work has been published in the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Long Range Planning, Organization Studies, R&D Management, and the Scandinavian Journal of Management, among others.