Jack Williamson was a highly respected author from the United States, known for his contributions to the genres of literature and fiction, science fiction, and fantasy. He was often referred to as the "Dean of Science Fiction" following the death of Robert Heinlein in 1988. Williamson used several pen names during the early days of his career, including Nils O. Sonderland and Will Stewart. He was born on April 20, 1908, in Bisbee, Arizona, and spent his childhood in Texas before his family moved to rural New Mexico in 1915 in search of better pastures. They settled in New Mexico permanently, switching from farming to ranching, which became their primary source of livelihood.
During World War II, Williamson served in the Air Corps of the United States and worked as a weather forecaster. After the war, he completed his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in English from the University of Eastern New Mexico in Portales during the 1950s. He began teaching at the same university in the 1960s and remained associated with it for the rest of his life. In the late 1990s, Williamson established a permanent trust to fund the art and literature journal of ENMU, called El Portal. He also donated original manuscripts and books to the university's library, resulting in the creation of a department of Special Collections.