N. Gary Lane, 1930-2006, was born in French Lick, Indiana and grew up in Sidell, Illinois. Lane went to Oberlin College for earned his A.B. degree (1952) in Geology and attended graduate school at University of Kansas under the supervision of Raymond C. Moore for both Master's (1954) and PhD (1958) degrees. After completing his graduate studies, Lane began his academic career at the University of California at Los Angeles, reaching the rank of Professor of Paleontology in 1970. Lane joined Indiana University as a Professor of Paleontology in 1973. He worked extensively with crinoids ranging from Ordovician through the Permian. Lane published over 100 articles and monographs, and one book on fossils, especially on Late Paleozoic crinoids. He was a major contributor to the three Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology volumes on fossil crinoids. He published the taxonomy, evolution, paleoecology, and functional morphology of fossil crinoids. Other published invertebrate fossils groups are mainly brachiopods, other minor include bryozoans, trilobites, gastropods, cephalopods, sponges, and fossil fishes.

Lane was awarded the 1995 R. C. Moore Medal from SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology), SEPM Outstanding Paper Award in the Journal of Paleontology (1979), the Erasmus Haworth Distinguished Alumni Award (University of Kansas, 1979), and a Fulbright Fellowship (1971-1972, 1955-1956). He was the President of the Paleontological Society (1987-88), Chair of the Department of Geological Sciences at Indiana University (1984– 1987), Associate Editor of Paleobiology (1977–1979), Co-Editor of the Journal of Paleontology (1969–1971), and the founder of "The Friends of the Echinoderms" (1967).