Dr. Jason Aukerman (PhD, MA, MBA) is a Clinical Assistant Professor of American Studies and English at Indiana University, Indianapolis where he also serves as the Director of the Ray Bradbury Center. His research interests include Ray Bradbury, the war fiction of United States veteran authors, 20th Century American genre fiction (primarily Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror), and adult literacy advancement. At IUI Dr. Aukerman teaches courses on American Supernatural, Conspiracy Theories, Banned Books, Science Fiction, and introductory literature courses.
Jordan Saigaonkar has an MA in English Literature from IUPUI and has spent the last 3+ as the Web Marketing Manager for the Ray Bradbury Center (RBC). She assists in all things social media for the RBC as well as the official social media accounts for the Ray Bradbury Estate. She’s an avid reader in a variety of genres, but generally prefers high fantasy (anything from Sarah J. Mass) or romance novels due to her incredibly mushy nature. Jordan also enjoys aggressively petting most things with four legs, including the errant cow when given the chance. If you asked her what she enjoys most, she would say spending time with her incredibly precious trio of cats- Honey Mustard, Matcha and Momo- and fighting the patriarchy.
Max Goller is a volunteer focused on promoting the Ray Bradbury Center in educational settings. He is twice retired, first from the United States Navy in 2001 and then from teaching middle school English in the Hamilton Southeastern School District in 2019. He also worked as the part-time Director of Education at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library from 2011-2020. In addition to his volunteer work with the Ray Bradbury Center, he serves on the board of the Charles Bruce Foundation in Carlisle, PA.
When not volunteering, he enjoys reading (surprising for someone who has worked with organizations in Indianapolis dedicated to two of the biggest names in literature, right?), traveling to obscure locations guided by Atlas Obscura, and listening to music both live and recorded.
When she’s not slinging dice in Dungeons & Dragons, Kylie can be found slinging books at her local branch of the Indy Public Library. She earned her Bachelor’s Degrees in Foreign Language and English Literature from Indiana State University before completing her Master’s in English Literature at IUPUI. While anticipating her Library Science program to start, she can be found watching and overanalyzing horror movies or out attempting to prove Bigfoot’s existence (and finding a cool bird or two while at it).
Jonathan R. Eller (B.S., United States Air Force Academy, 1973; B.A., University of Maryland, 1979; M.A. (1981), Ph.D. (1985), Indiana University) is an Emeritus Chancellor’s Professor of English, and retired co-founder of the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies, a research component of Indiana University’s School of Liberal Arts (IUPUI). He co-founded the Bradbury Center within the Institute for American Thought in 2007 and served as the Center’s director from August 2011 until his retirement from Indiana University in early 2021. Eller edited and established the texts for the three-volume Collected Stories of Ray Bradbury series and served as general editor for volumes 2 and 3. He was general editor for issues 4, 5, and 6 of The New Ray Bradbury Review.
Eller’s friendship and working relationship with Ray Bradbury began in the late 1980s. In 1993 he retired from a twenty-year Air Force career and joined the School of Liberal Arts faculty at IUPUI; his military service included operational assignments with the Tactical Air Command, the Military Airlift Command, and the Pacific Air Forces before duty as an English professor at both the U.S. Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs) and the U. S. Naval Academy (Annapolis). Since 2000 Eller has edited or co-edited several limited press editions of Ray Bradbury’s fiction, including The Halloween Tree (2005), Dandelion Wine (2007), and two collections of stories related to Bradbury’s publication of Fahrenheit 451 in 1953: Match to Flame (2006) and A Pleasure to Burn (2010). Since 2013 he has prefaced and prepared new historical sections for Simon & Schuster’s 60th anniversary edition of Fahrenheit 451 and for the latest Simon & Schuster edition of Something Wicked This Way Comes.
His most recent books include the biographical trilogy Becoming Ray Bradbury (2011), Ray Bradbury Unbound (2014), and Bradbury Beyond Apollo (2020). Four of Professor Eller’s books on Bradbury have been LOCUS award finalists for best nonfiction title in the science fiction and fantasy field; in 2021 Bradbury Beyond Apollo was selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title by the American Library Association.
Since retiring from Indiana University, Eller has prepared and edited a two-volume set of Bradbury’s fiction for the Library of America’s extensive series of American literary classics: Novels & Story Cycles (2021) and a collection of his short fiction containing The Illustrated Man, The October Country, and selected stories (fall 2022).
