H. Gordon Skilling (1912-2001) studied at the University of Toronto (BA), Oxford (BA, MA), and the University of London School of Slavonic and East European Studies (PH D). He worked in Czechoslovakia from 1937 to 1939 as a commentator on North America for the Czechoslovak Radio Corporation. He taught at the universities of Manitoba and Wisconsin and at Dartmouth College and was Professor of Political Science and Director of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Toronto.