Michael van Manen is Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, and Endowed Chair of Health Ethics and Director of the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre at the University of Alberta, Canada. He has a clinical practice as a physician in neonatal-perinatal medicine with the Stollery Children's Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Max van Manen is Emeritus Professor in Research Methods, Pedagogy, and Curriculum Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta, Canada. His interests include phenomenological pedagogy, childhood's secrets, pedagogical tact, and phenomenological human science method.