Dr. Virginia Charter is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for the Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology program at Oklahoma State University. She obtained her BS in FPSET from OSU, her MS in Fire Protection Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and her PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies - Higher Education from OSU. Prior to her position at OSU, she practiced as a consulting and design engineer for nine years in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has worked on many of the infamous Strip properties planning for and evaluation of fire protection, life safety, and risk control systems. Her research is focused on areas that impact fire protection system effectiveness, water supplies, building and fire codes and standards, and engineering education. She is a licensed professional engineer in Nevada, California, and Oklahoma. She serves the profession through several NFPA standard committees, the UL Fire Council, and SFPE. She is a Fellow member in SFPE.

Pat Brock is a graduate of the Fire Protection Engineering program at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. After graduation, he worked for the Insurance Services Office of Missouri in their Kansas City office inspecting commercial and industrial properties, reviewing sprinkler plans, and inspecting and testing fire system installations. After four years with ISO, he accepted the teaching position in the Fire Protection and Safety Engineering Technology Program at Oklahoma State University where he taught in the academic program for thirty-five years, attaining the title of Full Professor. During that time, he also taught seminars and short courses and, as a professional engineer, provided consulting services for a wide range of businesses, industries and federal agencies including the General Services Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Park Services. He is a Fellow member in SFPE.