Mr. Michael Beard formally studied art in a B.F.A program at East Carolina University in North Carolina. Prior to his work at the Academy, Mr. Beard, as the National Field Director for the American Constitution Committee, helped to build a national network of 50 state boards and implemented a system of 10 regions. He was then elected to be the National Field Director of the American Freedom Coalition where, under his direction, National Parents' Day was established by an act of Congress. In 1995, the Chairman of the Board of the Universal Ballet Foundation asked Mr. Beard to be the Executive Director of the Universal Ballet Academy. In 1997 he was published in the Who's Who among outstanding corporate executives.