Gerald B. Folland was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He received his bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1968 and his doctorate from Princeton University in 1971. After two years at the Courant Institute, he moved to the University of Washington, where he is now professor of mathematics. He is the author of ten textbooks and research monographs in the areas of real analysis, harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, and mathematical physics.