Hans J. Sternberg was born in Aurich, Germany, and moved with his family to the United States at the age of one. He was chairman and co-CEO (with his brother, Josef) of Goudchaux's/Maison Blanche Department Stores from 1965 to 1992 and is now chairman and CEO of Starmount Life Insurance Company. He and his wife, Donna, live in Baton Rouge. They have four children and nine grandchildren. None are in retail.
James E. Shelledy spent more than thirty years as a newspaper reporter and editor in Utah, Idaho, Washington, and Arizona, as well as a correspondent for the Associated Press. He is the Fred Jones Greer Endowed Chair at the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University and lives in Baton Rouge.
