Thomas Ray Poole, born 12 July 1936, attended the Nott Terrace High School in Schenectady, New York, before joining the U.S. Army and studying Russian at the Army language school in Monterey, California. He majored in history at Princeton University and graduated in 1958, then earned a Masters from the University of Kansas and a doctorate at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. After spotting an advertisement in the newspaper announcing the need for a lecturer in Russian history at the University of Queensland, Tom moved to Australia in 1974. He was a member of the History Department, University of Queensland, lecturing in Russian and Soviet history for 27 years until his retirement in 2001. His research interests were Russo-Australian relations and Trotsky. He died on 28 June 2016 in Armidale, Australia, survived by his wife, Heidi, and their three daughters.

Eric Fried, born on 14 July 1943, arrived in Australia with his family in 1956. He attended Brisbane State High then the University of Queensland, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in 1981. His Honours thesis was titled, Russians in Queensland, 1886-1925. He became a member of the University of Queensland Russian Department, tutoring for several years before embarking on a decade-long business career in Russia. Eventually he returned to Australia and retired to Mount Isa, Queensland.