AIA's Academy of Legends
One of the richest resources of our industry is within the knowledge of those who came before us. AIA’s Academy of Legends reads as a “Who’s Who” in the skin care industry. We have long been blessed with key relationships with those who blazed the path upon which we tread! The Academy of Legends serves to uphold the leadership of our industry as mentors and role models and is nominated by our members. Legend inductees are granted lifetime membership in AIA and are asked to continuously share their knowledge and passion and be accessible to the AIA membership-at-large. See all of our Legends below!
Nominate a Legend
The purpose of the Academy of Legends award is to publicly recognize individuals throughout our industry who embody the spirit of the Academy’s mission to uphold the leadership of our industry as mentors and role models for educating, empowering and advancing our profession.
Criteria for Nominees:
- Active in aesthetics industry a minimum of 20 years
- Contributed educationally to the benefit of the masses by serving as a role model and mentor, thereby raising the standards of our profession
- Gained the respect of peers by maintaining a standard of excellence exemplary of leadership, and be considered honorable by their colleagues
- Furthered the consumer awareness of our profession
If you have a mentor or friend whom you believe deserves of this honor, please e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Your submission should include an attached Word document, which introduces us to the person you wish to nominate and outlines their contributions to the industry as they relate to each of the criteria listed above and why you feel they should be recognized.
Michel Dumas is one of the best known French makeup artists in the world, having worked in over 30 countries. He has revealed his talents in numerous fields such as fashion, photography, film, theater, television, and advertising and has participated in over 70 makeup shows and events around the globe. This work has inspired him to write several articles on makeup, some having been translated…
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AIA Legend
Long Island to the World: My Life-Long Passion for Makeup by Pamela Taylor As a child, I was destined to become a makeup artist. Even at the young age of five or six, I recall being attracted to color, texture, packaging, and anything to do with makeup. Some of my earliest memories are of shopping with my mom and being inextricably drawn to the makeup…
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AIA Legend
Jeffrey Joseph’s Spafinder Travel Arrangements was the introduction for Hannelore Leavy’s involvement with the American spa market. In the 1970s, however, she started health and wellness travel programs to her native Austria as the North America marketing director for the United States office of the Austrian National Tourism Board. This received a lot of attention and other European organizations started similar events. With so much…
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AIA Legend
Michelle D’Allaird Brenner is a New York State licensed aesthetician and International CIDESCO Diplomat. She is the owner of the Aesthetic Science Institute aesthetic schools in Syracuse and Latham, N.Y. She is a consultant and educator for international cosmetic companies around the world. D’Allaird is a contributing author to major industry trade magazines, as well as a host and speaker for International Congress of Esthetics…
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AIA Legend
A Legend: Rick Norvell There is a timeless adage that warns, “If you play with fire, you will get burned.” But, in some cases, playing with fire sparks a new idea. In Rick Norvell’s case, playing with fire ignited an industry. Fascinated with matches, he sneaked a matchbook into his pocket to indulge his curiosity. But, on this day, the fun turned to flames. After…
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AIA Legend
A Legend: Michael Grandel Mark Twain's fictional character Huckleberry Finn could have also been named Michael Grandel and the venues of his adventurous stories could have been set by the Lech and the Wertach, rather than the Mississippi. Concerning hair color and mischief, the young Grandel was in no way inferior to the fictional figure. However, in a move that greatly contrasts those of Huckleberry…
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AIA Legend
It is a Saturday morning in 1980 and my mother and I are in the car making the 30-minute drive to Le Nouveau Moi, a full-service day spa. It was a drive I was quite familiar with as we made it often. As we rounded the corner into the parking lot, we filed out of the car and up to the front door. Once my…
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AIA Legend
A Legend: Catherine Atzen Catherine Atzen was born in France and grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. Her father, a creative, risk-taker, built several enterprises in France and Australia and her mother, a bookkeeper by training, supervised the business’ finances. At the same time, Atzen’s grandparents educated her about the traits that prepared her for the life she chose; they taught her discipline, organizational…
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AIA Legend
Maurice Stein: A Legend in Aesthetics
Written by by Jon Stein
At 5:15 on a Thursday morning, a young cosmetologist boarded a bus for the first studio job of his career. Cold and out of his element, the wide-eyed 29-year-old assumed he was merely being driven to other side of Columbia Studios. When the bus pulled out of the front gate, Maurice Stein figured he was headed to the studio’s San Fernando Valley location. He cast…
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AIA Legend
In 2013, Eve Taylor OBE celebrated her 50th career anniversary within the beauty industry. Eve's career began in the early 1960s when she started direct selling cosmetics from home to help pay for her original beauty school education in England.At 81 years of age, Eve Taylor continues to teach worldwide and learn new ideas, and she continues to be an inspiration to all who meet…
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AIA Legend
In the suburbs of Philadelphia on the affluent Main Line, the name “Ilona” has come to be synonymous with holistic skin and body care. In the early 1980s when Ilona Csaky first posted the word “aesthetics” on her business sign, most people were puzzled about its meaning. Since that time when she introduced the serious holistic spa concept to the area, she has become known…
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AIA Legend
The life and achievements of skin treatment pioneer Danné Montague-King, are not easy to summarize. Where to start, after more than 40 years of research and travel, pioneering a skin revision methodology that for the most part was decades ahead of its time, and then to only now have his achievements recognized in his native U.S.? From Russia to Tibet, Europe to Australia and beyond,…
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AIA Legend
In the 30 plus years since leaving his medical practice, Pugliese has continued to dedicate himself to the wellness of the population. In 1957, just out of medical school, he purchased a 200 acre farm in the country, and established what came to be known simply as The Big House, a 1795 stone farmhouse where Peter and Joanne Pugliese would spend over six decades of…
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AIA Legend
Those who know Jan Marini refer to her as a visionary. While Jan might agree in principle, she sees this characterization as both a strength and a weakness. She envies those who are able to savor the moment. Where others view life in snapshots that capture real time, Jan sees broad borderless landscapes and endless possibilities. She does not see a product, she sees a…
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AIA Legend
Annette’s story is one of family values and support – of an ongoing commitment to professionalism and recognition of the importance of standards. She has spent her entire career upholding the accountability of government to consumer safety and remains a relentless figure in the world of legislation on behalf of the aesthetic industry. While down-to-earth, she has a sophisticated intelligence and possesses a high standard…
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AIA Legend
AIA Legend: Margaret Ancira Changing the Face of Skin Care and Aesthetic Medicine Margaret Ancira is the epitome of the entrepreneurial spirit, even if her path to prosperity didn’t begin until age 40. She grew up in a military family of eight siblings that ultimately settled in Texas. She married young, had a daughter, and became a single mother by the time she was 22.…
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AIA Legend
When Murad opened his dermatology practice in 1972, few doctors considered aesthetics an allied profession and most didn’t consider it a profession at all. But even as a young doctor, Murad saw things differently. And over the last three decades, that different view of aesthetics has helped him become one of the greatest champions of the aesthetics profession. Becoming “Doctor” Murad Like most pioneers, Murad’s…
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AIA Legend
equipment. She lived a very nonconventional existence during that period, and her stay in that country had a very profound bearing on her personality, strengthening her restless and adventuresome spirit and her natural inclination to explore new cultures. This later brought about world travels, with her acquiring through these a gamut of experiences and a most impressive culture. The educational development of Mari Paz has…
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AIA Legend
AN EARLY START As the only child of a single parent, Rebecca started contributing to the family household at an early age. In 1964, Rebecca’s mother, Jean, realized her job wasn’t going to provide them with the lifestyle she envisioned after her second marriage ended in divorce. A small party planning company selling cosmetics from Dallas had just started looking for women in California to…
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AIA Legend
Electrologists Institute of New York where she graduated with highest honors. Later, Rosa traveled to Canada where she completed further studies at Canada Electrologists College, specializing in vascular blemish removal. Because at that time the concept of a spa was unknown in Puerto Rico, Rosa decided to further her education, and therefore proceeded to the Lady Ann Institute of Madrid, Spain, where she pursued studies…
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AIA Legend
Christine’s professional story, however, does not begin in Utah, but in a small Concord, California home converted to a skin care clinic over 25 years ago. Her career, like many aestheticians, began as a result of her own skin condition. In her words “…I had severe grade-four acne for over a decade and out of desperation for clear skin, I sought out remedies from over-the-counter…
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AIA Legend
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