Stephen Beard was appointed chief operating officer at Adtalem in 2019. In his role as chief operating officer, Stephen is responsible for the leadership and financial performance of Adtalem’s Financial Services vertical. In addition, he leads strategy, corporate development, and external relations. In both capacities, Stephen provides strategic counsel to the CEO, senior management team and board of directors. Stephen joined the organization in 2018 as senior vice president, general counsel before taking on the responsibility of chief operating officer in 2019 and responsibility for the Financial Services vertical in 2020. Prior to Adtalem, Stephen was executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel of Heidrick & Struggles (NASDAQ: HSII). Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Stephen was in private practice with Schiff Hardin, LLP. Stephen began his legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Frank Sullivan, Jr. (ret.), associate justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. Stephen received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a juris doctor degree from Indiana University – Bloomington and completed the Advanced Management Program at Duke University.