Ray H. French was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, May 16, 1919 and died in Greencastle, Indiana, April 21, 2000. He married Martha Simons in 1952 and they have a son, Thomas R. A graduate of the University of Iowa and a World War II veteran, French taught art at DePauw University from 1948 to 1984. He had 85 one-man exhibitions, and his works have been exhibited in more than 500 museums, galleries and universities throughout the world.