Lillian Herlands Hornstein died on April 10, 2000. Hornstein was Professor Emerita of English at New York University. She was married to George D. Hornstein, Professor of Corporation Law at New York University. Professor Hornstein was a distinguished academic, educator, and well-known literary critic of medieval literature. She had a 50-year career at New York University, where her talents were recognized by receiving the Distinguished Teacher Award and Presidential Citation of Achievement, among other numerous honors.

G. D. Percy is the co-editor of The Reader's Companion to World Literature.

Calvin S. Brown (1909-1989) was a native of Oxford, Mississippi, and was named valedictorian when he received his BA in German from the University of Mississippi at the age of 18.  He received his MA in English from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Brown interrupted work on his doctorate in comparative literature at the University of Wisconsin to study as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University-Merton College. He received his PhD in 1934.  In World War II he served as a codebreaker and was cited by the War Department for excellence. After the war, he headed the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia.