Jose Burgos is originally from Ecuador. He has lived in the United States since 1988 and received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Iowa in 1995. He has worked as a full-time interpreter and translator for several Fortune 500 companies as well as many government and non-profit organizations. He has a tremendous amount knowledge and over 25 years of experience in the translation industry.

At TranslationPal, Jose is responsible for all aspects of document translation project management and translation quality control.

Thomas received a PhD in English from the University of Iowa, where he is Special Assistant to the President for Communications and Research and teaches interdisciplinary courses. He has taught writing, literature, and interdisciplinary subjects at Cardinal Stritch College (Milwaukee), Michigan State University, and Moorhead State University (Minnesota). Tom has published essays in regional and national publications. Books include The Grace of Grass and Water: Writing in Honor of Paul Gruchow (edited collection, Ice Cube Press, 2007) and Under a Midland Sky (essays, Ice Cube Press, 2008). He has edited and proofread for Ice Cube Press and the Minnesota Historical Society Press, and he has served as manuscript reader for numerous academic journals and publishers. Tom is married and has two high-school-aged children who are active in band and other musical activities. The family also includes three rescued and retired racing greyhounds.

Maggie has an MA in English literature from the University of Northern Iowa and a BA in English teaching (grades 7–12). She has taught and tutored many junior high and high school students about the writing process. Teaching allowed her the opportunity to score thousands of standardized essay tests geared for those ranging in age from fourth grade to high school. Maggie's most recent work was as a full-time proofreader of standardized test booklets, teaching manuals, pamphlets, and online documents. However, she considers her most exciting new project to be the care of her one-year-old daughter, Louise.

Danny discovered his occupational niche in life at “the bluest of the blueblood” law firms in Boston, and further developed his skill at a typesetting shop. He then entered the book publishing field as a freelance proofreader and copy editor in 1985 and has lived the life of the self-employed ever since. Among his accomplishments are contributing 541 entries to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Encyclopedia, proofreading a book that won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1987 (Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference), and being the proofreader for the memoir of the late Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Thomas P. O’Neil. Danny teaches a twenty-hour class in proofreading, which, while training beginners how to become his competitors, has also made him the most famous proofreader in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Danny earned a Certificate in Publishing in 1994 from Northeastern University and a second Certificate in Publishing in 1997 from Emerson College.

Lisa has a PhD in English. She has worked in higher education for over ten years, teaching literature, composition, and technical writing. She also works as a technical writer. She is an avid reader and is passionate about education.

Melanie grew up in the suburbs of Rochester, New York. She fell in love with literature during her years as an undergrad at Purchase College, from which she graduated in 2006 with a dual degree in literature and journalism. In 2007 she dragged herself, her hubby, her pet rabbit, and several hundred well-loved books across the country to Iowa City—all for the chance to study English at the University of Iowa. She received her MA in English in 2010 and is currently working toward an MAT in English education.

After obtaining a BA in culture and linguistics, Lori traveled extensively and became fluent in Spanish. While overseas, she wrote and published a grammar book in English, Spanish, and a tribal language to assist in the ongoing culture study of the area. Lori is currently pursuing a degree in professional writing and maintains a 4.0 GPA; several years ago, while pursuing her degree in computer information science, she was awarded several honors, including the Outstanding Student Award for her graduating class, and several certifications. She has published various editorials and has worked as a professional editor for three years. Her hobbies include photography, freelance writing, and the advertising industry.

Ted is a native of Boston, Massachusetts. He earned a BA in English literature from the University of Michigan, an MA in creative writing from Boston University, and an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he was awarded a Teaching-Writing Fellowship. He was an instructor at the Boston Arts Academy, an admission-based public high school for gifted students. He taught fiction writing at Boston University, and literature and fiction writing at the University of Iowa. His fiction has appeared in Painted Bride Quarterly and Damnation Books, and he was short-listed for the Eric Hoffer Award for Best New Writing. He worked as a restaurant critic and music writer for Boston’s Weekly Dig. His interviews with national acts can be found on band web sites.

Peter holds an MEd in education (applied linguistics) and has been in the education field in the Asia-Pacific region for over thirty years. He has published over fifteen academic papers in journals and books, and as an associate professor of applied linguistics, has taught and researched writing at the university level as well as in secondary schools. Peter has also held the positions of principal and vice principal. Peter now lives in Southeast Asia, where he is writing a university linguistics text. He has a keen interest in traveling, and editing and proofreading academic papers and theses.

Andrea is an editor and a translator from Spanish and Portuguese. She holds an MFA in literary translation and an MA in Spanish from the University of Iowa. As editor and translator, she specializes in literature, literary and film criticism, history, and art history. When not mucking about with language, she loves cooking and traveling.

Tom was born and raised in Iowa, where he lives today. He is married and a father of three boys. He is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa with a BS in English literature, and is currently working toward a degree in criminal justice from South University Online. He is currently a reporter for the Highland Review in Riverside, Iowa. Tom hopes to be a published novelist and to work with juveniles within the criminal justice system. He likes to spend his time playing with his boys, reading, writing, and watching movies.

Katie has a BA in English with a concentration in creative writing from the University of Iowa. She has traveled abroad with the Creativity Workshop to Dublin, Ireland. Katie enjoys writing fictional short stories, but oftentimes finds it easier to draw upon her own life's adventures when writing. She continues to learn about the craft of writing by taking online writing workshops. Also an avid reader, Katie enjoys reading collections of short stories and memoirs. She lives in Champaign, Illinois, and enjoys spending time reading and journaling in the many sidewalk cafes in the downtown area. She is currently employed by Carle Hospital as a project management assistant in their facilities department. Katie also enjoys baking, taking long walks, hosting dinner parties, and watching movies.

Karen has a BA in art history from the University of Massachusetts, where she also received the Distinguished Scholarship in Art prize. Upon graduation, she worked for over ten years at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where she managed archival information for approximately 50,000 black and white photographs. She has a published book of poems and is currently working on a book on the life of the artist Joseph Cornell. Karen also enjoys painting, reading, and walks with her bull terrier.

Susan first recognized her interest in words and grammar in the third grade. Since then, she has traveled widely, attended Boston University and the University of Iowa, married, and worked in medical transcription, event planning, construction, art consulting, and freelance editing. Working for over ten years with a local historical preservation firm, she edited hundreds of archival documents distributed to individual, city, county, and state clients. She appreciates the variety and creativity of editing and usually learns something from each text. Susan lives in Washington state with her husband, Chris, and also enjoys studying jazz piano, painting portraits, doing yoga, and dancing.

Erin was born and raised in east-central Illinois. As an adult, she has lived in Northern and Southern California and southern New Mexico. After twenty years, she returned to Illinois and has lived there for the past sixteen years. Erin worked as an in-house assistant editor for a midsized publishing company in Champaign, Illinois, where she learned about the publishing industry and honed her proofreading and copyediting skills. For the past fourteen years, Erin has been self-employed as an editorial freelancer working for several publishers and professional organizations, including McGraw-Hill Professional and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Mike has spent ten years as an award-winning daily newspaper reporter and editor, a career highlighted by the receipt of first place in the United States in the William Allen White opinion writing competition. He has also worked for more than twenty years as a freelance writer and a high school and college writing and literature instructor. He has published more than 10,000 newspaper and magazine articles and six books, including the first novel ever published about the University of Iowa’s Nile Kinnick (2006). Mike holds an MA and a BA from the University of Iowa and is married to the former Mary Guernsey of Waterloo, who is also an Iowa grad. Their son, Matt, works as a sound editor for an Academy Award-winning studio in Hollywood. Mike and Mary have taught in American international schools in South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia, traveling nearly one million miles, visiting more than thirty countries, and working with students from more than seventy nations. And they have worked with Habitat for Humanity in India, Hungary, and the Philippines.

Amber has a BA in philosophy and German from St. Olaf College, and a PhD in philosophy from the University of Iowa. She is currently employed as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Konstanz in Germany, where she teaches philosophy in both English and German. Amber has over ten years of teaching experience in the humanities and has served as a translator and copyeditor for graduate students and professional academics in Germany and elsewhere. As a freelance proofreader and copyeditor for Buckle Down Publishing, she has learned how to thoroughly and efficiently edit various types of texts, and as a university instructor, she has learned how to tailor her comments to the author’s particular needs. When she’s not teaching, grading, editing, or working on various grant proposals, she can be found hiking in the Swiss Alps or respectably enjoying a Weinschorle on the Bodensee.

Ernesto has over twelve years of experience working with writers as an editor, teacher, and coach. Many of the writers with whom he has worked have gone on to publish their work at major houses like Knopf, Harper Collins, and Norton. He is the author of three novels—The Lazarus Rumba, The Second Death of Única Aveyano, and the forthcoming Sacrificio—has translated four Latin American novels from Spanish, and has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He is currently an assistant professor of fiction at Brooklyn College and has taught at Sarah Lawrence College and City College of New York.

Chris was born and raised in a small town in Connecticut. During high school and his early college years, he played bass with several jazz, funk, and rock groups. He caught the writing bug while at Purchase College and co-edited the Purchase Record, the little indy weekly that could. After graduating in 2005, he became a reporter for the New Haven Register, covering local government, business and features in the shoreline town of Milford. Since then, he’s written for a number of publications as a freelance journalist and sales copywriter, including The Iowan, SEO Copywriting, The Iowa Source, Westport Magazine, and Milford Living Magazine. He is currently an education student at the University of Iowa.

Barbara has an honours bachelor of arts degree in French and German, and an honours bachelor of education degree. Barbara taught English, French (core and immersion), and German for thirty-one years; she enjoys reading a wide variety of subjects in all three languages. Barbara’s many interests also include running, swimming, cycling, triathlon, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking, teaching Pilates classes, and gardening.

Eric has been involved in the field of English for over twelve years, formerly as an educator, and now as a full-time editor and proofreader. He enjoys editing all sorts of texts, from research studies in psychology to science fiction short stories. In his spare time, he likes to hike, bodyboard, play cards, and collect antiques with his wife and son. He earned a bachelor of arts in English from Western Carolina University and a master of school administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Heather was born and raised in Southern California. After attending UC Santa Barbara, where she studied political science, she traveled east to Washington, DC, where she worked for several members of Congress, including the Democratic Majority Whip. Heather was responsible for drafting press releases, legislative memos, and constituent correspondences. After leaving DC, Heather spent time abroad working as an editor for the English version of Israel’s largest daily newspaper in Israel, Ha’aretz. Back in Los Angeles, Heather produced and hosted a book show in which she had the unique opportunity to interview some of today’s great writers. She has spent the last several years working as a freelance writer and editor for a variety of clients, large and small.

Cynthia is a freelance journalist and editor living in Miami. A Brooklyn native, she loves books, old school jazz, all of the Caribbean, more books, and yoga. Her works of fiction have been published in anthologies, magazines, and chapbooks. With a vision of teaching English and reading abroad, she is currently working toward her MFA in creative writing and English at Southern New Hampshire University.

Chris has a BS in biology and a BA in anthropology. He has worked in various facets of publishing, including editorial, production, marketing, and technology for more than ten years. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife, daughter, and son, who inspire and teach him something awesome pretty much every day. He currently works at Writer’s Digest where he is privileged to work with fantastic authors, screenwriters, and industry professionals on a daily basis.

Born and raised in western New York, Leslie lives in the rural town of Freedom and works at a weekly community newspaper in Arcade. Over the sixteen years that she’s worked as a reporter/columnist, Leslie earned (through New York Press Association) three first-place awards and one third-place award for her humor column entitled, “Motherhood…What Was I Thinking?” She has a passion for both reading and music. When she is not reading, she can usually be found motorcycling or antiquing with her husband, spending time with her children and grandson, playing with her cats and/or dogs, or any combination of the above.

Chad should have known that he was destined for a career in English when, as a junior in high school, he corrected a local radio personality’s grammar—on the air. When he is not driving one of his kids to school or soccer practice, Chad may be found in a coffee shop in Elkhart, Indiana, drinking coffee and reading about cultural theory. Chad is currently completing his MA in English literature at the University of Iowa and plans to pursue a PhD in rhetoric and composition.

Uillame has a master’s degree and is a law student at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. He is the Executive Editor of the UNH Law Review and was a teaching assistant for Legal Writing. He has worked at the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the United States District Court writing and editing court opinions and orders. Uillame also has experience writing technical requirements for software engineers and creating online advertisements. Uillame spent two years volunteering in South Africa and, while there, taught classes to grade school children. He was also a volunteer instructor for Junior Achievement and volunteered with the city recreation department. He enjoys reading, writing, playing guitar, snowboarding, football, and basketball, and loves his wife and two daughters.

Jenni is a graduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where she studies fiction and is at work on a collection of short stories for her thesis. She has three years of experience teaching composition at the university level and tutoring students across the curriculum. Jenni holds a BA in English from the University of Alabama.

Gina has worked in the publishing industry as a proofreader and copy editor for over thirty years. Her diverse experience includes editing scientific journals as well as consumer magazines. She has also consulted with public relations firms and advertising agencies on their collateral portfolios.

Courtney is currently a MEd student and substitute elementary school teacher. Her background includes diverse professional and life experiences. She has earned two bachelor’s degrees: one in marine biology and the other in elementary education. Before pursuing her education degree, she worked as an ESL instructor, curriculum developer, and proofreader in Japan. Her education background makes her sensitive to the needs of student writers, especially those for whom English is not their first language. While overseas, she also indulged her love of travel, not only within Japan, but to other Asian countries as well. In her free time, Courtney enjoys many creative pursuits, including photography and culinary arts, while she is always checking destinations off her world map.

Brian Kaldenberg has over ten years of experience in eCommerce business management. He holds a BS in marketing and is a graduate of Iowa State University. Brian has started several successful online businesses. He accredits his success to "hard work and customer service."

Greg has more than ten years of experience as a successful business leader. He holds a BS in finance and is a graduate of the University of Iowa.

Sasha has over ten years of customer service and business management experience, and is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a BA in English. She is also employed at the University of Iowa College of Law and is very passionate about providing the best possible service to our clients and proofreaders alike.

Mark has an MBA from the University of Iowa and over twenty years of experience as a Fortune 500 business development executive at Bridgestone.

Jessica is a speculative fiction writer and former copy editor who graduated from the University of Iowa with a BA with honors in English and a minor in anthropology. She recently emerged from an internationally acclaimed professional writing workshop as part of an eighteen-piece lapine warmachine. She is TESOL-certified, has previous employment experience as a high school English teacher, and spends her free time globetrotting, photographing hamsters, performing ghastly experiments on paper products, and winning staring contests against cats.

Jill has an AAS degree in management and extensive experience with Microsoft Office and customer service-related tasks.