Mike Christiansen is Professor Emeritus in the Music Department at Utah State University. Mike founded the guitar program at USU and was Director of Guitar Studies at USU for 39 years. In 1994, he was selected as Professor of The Year at Utah State University. Mike received the ASTA (American String Teachers Association) Utah Chapter Outstanding Collegiate Educator of the Year Award in 2006. In December of 2012, Mike was selected as a U.S. Carnegie Professor of the Year and was also selected as the USU Caine College of the Arts Professor of the Year. In 2013, he was invited to be a TED speaker. Mike is a renown guitar educator and has taught workshops at many schools, He is a frequent clinician for guitarists and classroom guitar instructors at various conferences. He is the author and/or co-author of over 40 books and appears on hundreds of instructional videos.