Michael M. Haley received both his BA (1987) and PhD (1991) degrees from Rice University. After postdoctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley (1991-93), he joined the faculty at the University of Oregon (1993) and is now Professor of Chemistry and member of the Materials Science Institute. Haley is author of 80+ publications and his research interests span a variety of carbon-rich systems, from metalla-aromatics to molecules based on phenyl-acetylene scaffolding.

Rik R. Tykwinski received his BS degree from the University of Minnesota-Duluth and his PhD from the University of Utah. After postdoctoral studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Z?(1994-97), he joined the faculty of the University of Alberta in 1997 and is now Professor of Chemistry. He has published over 85 research papers, most of which describe the synthesis and unique properties of carbon-rich acetylenic molecules.