Biographical and bibliographical data that indicate the relative weight and contributions made by different disciplines and individuals to the development of the field of higher education are analyzed. Mailing of a questionnaire in 1980 to 623 persons teaching in the field resulted in 150 usable returns from 138 men and 12 women, representing 71 higher education institutions. Eighty-six percent of the respondents' doctoral degrees and 64 percent of their master's degrees were in education; 15 percent of their baccalaureate degrees were also in education. Seventy-four of the respondents indicated that they had an appointment in addition to their higher education faculty position. Forty-six of the additional appointments were administrative, and of those, almost half were higher education department chairs, center directors, or both. Areas of expertise and/or special interest of the respondents are indicated. A total of 516 different individuals were cited by respondents as influential, and basically these people were professional college administrators and faculty members. The nature of influences on academic training and professional development was also elicited. In addition, the books and journals found to be of most use or most importance in 15 categories (i.e., subfields of the field of higher education) are listed. Among the conclusions are following: the field is dominated numerically by men and it has no central discipline, no dominant theory or even a general theoretical orientation accepted by a large majority, and possesses no distinctive approaches, methods, or concepts. (SW)