Leonard Rutledge Woolsey was born in Penzance, Saskatchewan in 1922 to Hulbert and Barbara Woolsey. Leonard Woolsey served in the Navy during World War Two and was a member of the crew of the HMCS Athabaskan, which was disabled by a German air attack in August 1943. He also served at sea on the HMCS Chaudiere. He received a commission, ending the war attached to the Royal Navy as a Fleet Air Arm Fighter Controller. After the war, Woolsey attended the University of Saskatchewan where he graduated from Mechanical Engineering in 1949. He worked as a senior executive with Gulf Oil. Leonard Woolsey died in 2008.

Wolsey G. Worcester was born on October 9, 1876 in Oberlin, Ohio. He entered Ohio State University in 1895. After taking time from his studies to serve in the Spanish American War in 1898, he received his degree in Ceramic Engineering in 1899. He worked throughout the United States, designing and supervising construction on three of the largest tile plants in that country between 1902 and 1906; he also designed a plant in Calgary, Alberta in 1912. Later, at the request of the Canadian government, he took part in the development of the western oil fields and moved to Canada permanently in 1919. He joined the University of Saskatchewan in 1921 and established Canada's first Department of Ceramic Engineering. He served as Head of the Department until his retirement in 1946, when he was named Professor Emeritus. One of his most valuable contributions while at the University was helping to develop Canada's refractory mineral resources. Professor Worcester died in 1972 on his 96th birthday.

Maurice Yacowar earned a BA in English from the University of Alberta, Calgary campus, in 1962, an MA from the University of Alberta, and PhD at the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham in 1968. He taught at Brock University, where he helped establish Canada’s first Film Studies degree program. He had an administrative position with the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, and returned to the University of Calgary in 1995 as a professor of English. Upon his retirement, he was named Professor Emeritus. Yacowar was an avid art collector and has donated some of his collection to the University of Saskatchewan.

Raymond Pius George Yochim was born on August 17, 1935, and died July 25, 2016. He was married sixty years to wife Irene, and had three sons. He was, for much of his career, a travelling salesman, and his collecting was partially a result of his ongoing travels as well as his multitude of interests. Ray was a member of the Air Force Club, Royal Canadian Legion, Army Navy & Air Force Veterans, and Knights of Columbus. He was an avid collector of coins and stamps, books and ephemera.

Norman Zepp was raised on a farm near Yorkton, Saskatchewan, and earned his BA from the University of Saskatchewan. While at university, Zepp met his partner Judith Varga; and he bought his first piece of Inuit art. Zepp switched his major from Education to Art History; and went on to earn an MA in Art History from Carleton University, under the supervision of George Swinton, who remained a lifelong friend of Zepp and Varga. After earning his graduate degree, Zepp was curator of exhibitions at the Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina, and director of the Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art. In 1988, he was appointed curator of Inuit art for the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), where he remained until 1994. During that time, Zepp was instrumental in building the AGO Inuit collection, including helping to facilitate several major donations, including the Williamson and the Sarick collections. Following the AGO, Zepp worked in Vancouver prior to returning to Saskatoon. He remains one of Canada’s foremost experts on Inuit art.