Harold S. Bender was born July 19, 1897, at Elkhart, Indiana. He held degrees from the following institutions: BS, Goshen College, Goshen, Indiana; BD, Garrett Biblical Institute; ThM, Princeton Theological Seminary; MA, Princeton University; and ThD, Heidelberg University. He became dean of Goshen College in 1933 and from 1944 he served as dean of Goshen College Biblical Seminary until his death in 1962. He was ordained to the ministry in 1944 and he became president of Mennonite World Conference in 1952. In 1927 he founded the scholarly quarterly, The Mennonite Quarterly Review, and served as its editor until his death. He was also the author of Two Centuries of American Mennonite Literature, Conrad Grebel: First Leader of the Swiss Brethren, These Are My People: Mennonite Origins in Europe, and Biblical Revelation and Inspiration.