There are two people who have had a large influence on us as well as on Macaulay. Graham Evans first introduced one of us (Mike Stillman) to the wonders of syzygies and finite free resolutions, which led to the ancestor of Macaulay written in the late 1970's. Without him, this system would not exist. His continual support has been invaluable.
David Eisenbud has also played a large role through the years. His support and suggestions have helped shape the entire project, and have been invaluable. He wrote a large majority of the scripts in Appendix C. This large amount of work has made Macaulay a much more powerful system.
We would also like to thank the Mathematical Sciences Insitute at Cornell, for providing us with the Macintosh MPW license, as well as computer equipment and hospitality.