Mark W. Sullivan earned a Ph. D. in art history from Bryn Mawr College, and taught at Rutgers University and Rosemont College (PA), before landing a full-time position at Villanova University. He spent 37 years at Villanova, and was the co-founder and director of its art history program. He specializes in the history of American painting, and has written and lectured extensively on the art and architecture of the Philadelphia area. He lives in the Philadelphia suburb of Fort Washington, not far from the art school that Thomas Anshutz and Hugh Breckenridge established there after relocating from Darby, PA.