Born in 1924 in New York City, Ronald Hayes Pearson was one of the true pioneers of the postwar American craft movement. Although best known for his work as a jeweler, Pearson made significant contributions to areas as diverse as sculpture, industrial design, and education. He also played significant roles in the American Craft Council and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Pearson’s elegant jewelry established a precedent for metalwork that endures in the work it has inspired. He attended the University of Wisconsin (1942-43), School for American Craftsmen, Alfred University (1947-48), and the Special Design Program, Reed & Barton Silver Company (1949). Selected honors include: Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation grant (1969); National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (1973, ’78); trustee, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (1988-94); and honorary doctorate, Maine School of Art (1987). He lived and maintained his studio in Deer Isle, Maine, from 1971, producing jewelry, sculpture, flatware, hollowware and forged ironwork. Ronald Hayes Pearson received the American Craft Council’s Gold Medal in 1996. He died in 1996.