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O.P. Agrawal, Founder and Former Director of the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property and at present Director General of the INTACH Indian Council of Conservation Institutes is considered to be the foremost international authority in the field of conservation of cultural heritage of Asia. During his long career of almost 50 years, he has been intimately connected with numerous national and international professional organizations. Activities of O.P. Agrawal have been multi faceted and in him, one can find an amalgam of a creator, a visionary, a scientist, a writer, a researcher, a trainer, a conservator and a museologist. He is the president of the International Council of Bio-deterioration of Cultural Property; is the former President of the India Association of the Study of Conservation of Cultural Property and was also the president of the Museums Association of India. He acted as the Vice-President of the ICCROM Council, Rome for several years. He has often been invited to go abroad as a Consultant on behalf of UNESCO, ICOM and ICCROM. He has authored or edited about 35 books and contributed more than 200 articles. He is the recipient of the International Award "Personality of Conservation" - 1990 from Brazil and ICCROM Award - 1993. Kanpur University conferred upon him D.Litt. (Honoris Causa) in 1994.

Dr. (Mrs.) Nanda Wickramasinghe is at present the Director of the Department of National Museum, Colombo. Prior to this assignment, she was the Director of Archaeology (Chemical Conservation) in the Department of Archaeology, Sri Lanka, where she served for more than 23 years. During this period she had the opportunity to work for the wall paintings of Sri Lanka and gained a real insight into their techniques, materials and conservation problems. She obtained her first degree, B.Sc (Specializing in Chemistry) in 1977 from the University of Sri Lanka; M.Sc Preliminary from the University of New England, Australia 1978; Diploma in Chemiekarin (equivalent to M.Sc) from the Technical University, Berlin in 1989. She followed a sixmonth training course in conservation of cultural property India in 1979/80. She obtained her Ph.D in Archaeology in 1997 from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura, Sri Lanka. She is an Associate Member of Institute of Chemistry, a Chartered Chemist. She is one of the founder members of the Sri Lanka Council of Archaeology. She is also a member of the International Council of Bio-deterioration of Cultural Property. She serve as a visiting lecturer in Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology and two other national universities in Sri Lanka. She is also a member of the Laboratory Steering Committee of the Central Cultural Fund. She has contributed both to Sri Lankan and International Journals.