Herman Cain
Herman Cain grew up in Georgia with wonderful parents and little else. Cain's father worked three jobs because he wanted his family to have more opportunity. As a result of his dad's encouragement, Cain earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Morehouse College in 1967. He earned a master's degree from Purdue University while working as a mathematician for the Department of the Navy.

Upon graduation, he worked as a business analyst for The Coca-Cola Company. His professional career has included serving as a vice president with The Pillsbury Company and as president of Godfather's Pizza, Inc. As president of Godfather's, he helped the chain regain profitability within 14 months. He also served as a senior advisor to the 1996 Dole/Kemp presidential campaign.

Dr. Janet Towslee
Dr. Janet Towslee was the president of the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) in 1987-88. It was under her leadership that a task force was organized to establish what came to be known as Future Educators of America. She is recognized as a leader in teacher education. Towslee was an expert witness cited in A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, served on the executive board of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), served as chair of the executive board of Who's Who in American Education, was cited for her contributions leading to such publications as the first Handbook of Research on Teacher Education, and currently serves as a consultant.

Honored as one of the 70 Leaders in Teacher Education, Towslee was a high school president of Future Teachers of America (FTA), a special education teacher, a college professor, and a dean. She holds degrees from Florida State University, the University of Louisville, and Indiana University. She resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Carol Olney
Carol Olney began her teaching career in health and physical education, but quickly realized there was a huge population that wasn't being served. She then got her master's degree in special education. She is now nationally board certified in special education, has a master's degree plus 30, and is highly qualified in early childhood, middle childhood, health and physical education, and special education. This year, she is a first grade teacher. In the summer, she is a consultant for NASA. She reviews products and works with scientists, museum curators, professors, and product developers to make materials and facilities more readily available and accessible for the special needs population.

Although she has been named Teacher of the Year three times by different organizations, she said, "All this is nice, but it really isn't important unless you use it to effect a change in your teaching, and it makes an impact on the way children learn."