Mike Ward was born and raised in Michigan and spent his adult life in Chicago, Illinois, in the western suburbs. After earning a B.S. degree in 1970, he enlisted in the US Army and served for three years as a counterintelligence agent. After being discharged, Mike began his professional career in education. After completing a doctorate degree, Mike served as the chief vocational education administrator at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL, which is the largest single-campus community college in the United States.
After ten years as a vocational administrator, Mike was awarded a $300,000 state grant to purchase the software and computer equipment to begin a computer aided drafting (CAD) program at College of DuPage. As director of the new program, Mike was responsible for hardware and software selection, curriculum design, training and supervising faculty, and teaching CAD and parametric modeling.
Mike held leadership positions in regional, state, and national professional organizations, as well as college committees and the Faculty Senate, where he served for four years as Parliamentarian and two years as President. Between 1987 and 2002, Mike wrote and periodically revised three CAD software specific textbooks.
Mike retired with his wife, Linda, to the Sedona area in 2002 with a strong interest in contributing to his community. He has been active in Friends of the Forest (FOF), serving as Vice President and President from 2005 through 2008. In addition to his other FOF volunteering activities, he wrote three grant applications resulting in awards totaling $457,000 to the Red Rock Ranger District. Mike is currently serving his third term as Captain of Yavapai County Sheriff’s Verde Search and Rescue Posse and has served on the board of directors of the Verde-Sedona League of Women Voters.
Following his avocational interest in geology, Mike wrote and self-published a popular tourist-oriented book on the geology of the Sedona area. The 64-page, full-color book, entitled So, Why are the Rocks Red? has sold over 5,000 copies since it was first published in December 2006.
Mike and Linda have a daughter, two sons and three grandchildren who reside in Alaska, Illinois, and New Jersey.
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