Stephen Marshak is a Professor Emeritus of Geology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he taught for 35 years. During this time, he also served as Head of the Department of Geology and as Director of the School of Earth, Society, & Environment. Steve holds an A.B. from Cornell University, an M.S. from the University of Arizona, and a Ph.D.

from Columbia University all in geology. His research interests in structural geology and tectonics have taken him in the field on several continents. Steve, a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, has won the highest teaching awards at both the college and campus levels at the University of Illinois, and has also received a Neil Miner Award from the National Association of Geoscience Teachers for "exceptional contributions to the stimulation of interest in the Earth Sciences." In addition to research papers and Earth: Portrait of a Planet, Essentials of Geology, Earth Science, and Laboratory Manual for Introductory Geology, he has co-authored Earth Structure: An Introduction to Structural Geology and Tectonics, and Basic Methods of Structural Geology.