Mary Kay DeGenova received her Ph.D. in 1992 from Purdue University in Child Development and Family Studies. She was an associate professor of Family Studies at Central Michigan University and the University of New Hampshire and has taught various courses on marriage and the family. Her work on this text is a direct result of her experience in the classroom and her experiences with diversity, including work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa and a Fulbright Scholar in Chile. In addition to her recent work on this text DeGenova has written Families in Cultural Context: Strengths and Challenges in Diversity, published by Mayfield Publishing Company. She was written numerous journal articles, presented papers at many conferences, and appeared in anthologies. She is currently working from home on numerous writing projects while caring for her two children. F. Philip Rice received his Ed.D. in Marriage and Family Relationships from Teachers College of Columbia University. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Maine-Orono, where he taught courses i the field of Marriage and Family for many years. His years of experience teaching courses on marriage and the Family, Human Sexuality, Contemporary Marriages, Human Development, and many others come through in this text. In addition to writing Intimate Relationships, Marriages and Familieshe has written more than twenty other texts on Marriage and Family, Stepparenting, Working Mothers, Human Sexuality, Human Development, and numerous others in related fields. His principal areas of research include Human Development, Child Development, Adolescent Development, Adult Development, and Marriage and Family Relations. Nick Stinnett received his PHD from Florida State University and has taught in the area of family studies since 1968. He currently teaches courses on marriage and family at The University of Alabama. Nick is a nationally and internationally recognized leader and researcher in the area of family strengths. In addition to his work on Intimate Relationships, Marriages, & Families, he is a coauthor with Nancy, his wife, and James Walters on Relationships in Marriage and Family, 5th edition, published by Pearson. He is also a coauthor, with Joe Beam, on Fantastic Families: 6 Proven Steps to Building a Strong Family, as well as Secrets of Strong Families, which he coauthored with John DeFrain. Nancy Stinnett has a masters from Oklahoma State University. She has been teaching classes on marriage, parenting, and general human development at the University of Alabama since 1987. Nancy has coauthored books on marriage and family with her husband, Nick, who she has been married to for 41 years. Nick and Nancy have 2 grown sons and 4 grandchildren and live in Northport Alabama.