Lois Ruskai Melina is a writer and retired educator. She was the editor and publisher of Adopted Child newsletter and the author of three books focused on helping parents understand the impact of infertility and adoption on families formed by adoption: Raising Adopted Children, Making Sense of Adoption, and The Open Adoption Experience (with Sharon Kaplan Roszia). For her book By a Fraction of a Second, she followed nine elite women swimmers for eighteen months leading up to the 2000 US Olympic Trials. After receiving a PhD in Leadership Studies from Gonzaga University in 2008, she taught leadership at two universities. Her research focused on social movements and the performance of leadership. She was the lead editor of the anthology, The Embodiment of Leadership. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband where she enjoys rowing on the Willamette River and following women's soccer. She has a grown son and daughter and two grandchildren.