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. In December of 2012, Mike was selected as one of the U.S. Carnegie Professors of the Year. In that same year, he was selected as the USU Caine College of the Arts Professor of the Year. In 2013, he was invited to be a TED speaker.