Alan Howard is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Hawai'i. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1962 for research on Rotuma. He also did research among Hawaiian-American homesteaders on O'ahu and among Samoan migrants. He retired from active teaching in 1999.

Jan Rensel is an Adjunct Assistant Professor with the University of Hawai'i Department of Anthropology; for 17 years she was the managinging editor of the UH Center for Pacific Islands Studies. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Hawai'i in 1994 following dissertation research on Rotuma.

Alan and Jan are married and live in Honolulu.