Joe R. Eagleman, was born on a farm near West Plains Missouri. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri in 1963 and was a professor at the University of Kansas for 39 years. He taught thousands of students about Atmospheric Science through his courses there and many thousands more through four different textbooks used by over a hundred universities over a span of several decades. He directed a successful experiment on Skylab, funded by NASA. He invented a tornado in his laboratory that was used by Universal Studios for a 50 ft. tornado attraction and can be seen at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. He started the Atmospheric Science program at KU and wrote a technical book on severe thunderstorms that included his tornado safety research, which resulted in changes adopted nationally.

Since his retirement, he has published several books and recorded several albums of original music (Eagleman Band). His autobiography, Name Your Price, tells of his early life on a farm where he was the 11th of 12 children. It includes his work as a scientist and a number of unusual hobbies, including those as an artist, musician, luthier, marksman, taxidermist, world traveler, and other endeavors. He has also written a screenplay, The Tornado Tamer. For more information, see https://www.JoeEagleman.com.