Steve Beard

Steve Beard is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Adtalem Global Education, America's largest healthcare educator serving more than 97,000 students across five accredited institutions: American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Chamberlain University, Ross University School of Medicine, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, and Walden University. The company graduates 24,000 healthcare professionals annually, with 290,000 alumni practicing across the country. Beard was named CEO in 2021 and elected Chairman of the Board in 2024. Under his leadership, Adtalem transformed from a diversified education and training company to one centered on healthcare education. He joined the company in 2018 as General Counsel and soon became Chief Operating Officer, where he led the now divested financial services segment and the portfolio repositioning that enabled Adtalem's new strategic direction. Prior to Adtalem, Beard served as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Heidrick & Struggles International, where he led the firm's expansion into leadership consulting and organizational development. Earlier, he practiced corporate and securities law at Schiff Hardin in Chicago and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Frank Sullivan, Jr. (ret.), Associate Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Beard was named to TIME's TIME100 Health 2025 list and his insights have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and other leading outlets. He serves as board chair of A Better Chicago, a venture philanthropy expanding opportunity for underserved Chicago youth. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his law degree from the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University-Bloomington.