Kenneth L. Knickerbocker was born in Dallas, Texas in 1905. He received his AB and AM degrees from Southern Methodist University and his PhD from Yale University. In 1946, Dr. Knickerbocker joined the University of Tennessee faculty as a professor of English. From 1957 to 1963, Knickerbocker served as associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and was named distinguished professor in 1964. In 1971, Knickerbocker was appointed as academic vice president for the university system, a post he held until 1973 when he returned to full-time professorial duties until his retirement in 1975. He died on December 30, 1990. Knickerbocker authored several textbooks on literature and several volumes on the poet Robert Browning.

Robert Keats Knickerbocker, son of Kenneth, attended Knoxville Central High School and Southern Methodist University. In Dallas, Texas, Robert was president of a real estate company.

An international group of English professors decided to convene an international congress of English Studies. The first conference was held in Oxford in 1950. The International Association of University Professors of English, to which Kenneth Knickerbocker belonged, began in 1951.