Michael Burns
Dean of Faculty and Students, Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science
Michael Burns, CFSP, is the Dean of Faculty and Students at the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science. He has been licensed for over 30 years and spent a large portion of his career in the field as a funeral home manager. After earning his masters in adult education and training, he joined the PIMS staff in administration. During the last few years, he has taught numerous online and on campus courses at the school. In addition to his responsibilities as the Dean, he is the school’s Care Center supervisor, manages the team of instructors and facilitated the redesign of the new Restorative Art lab at the school. Dean Burns is also the InSight Institute Certified Celebrant trainer at PIMS. He was recently certified to present on Child Abuse Recognition by the state of Pennsylvania.
Chris Farmer
General Counsel, NFDA
Chris has been serving funeral service for almost 20 years. He was in-house counsel for SCI from 2003-2008 before he started in private practice representing funeral homes, cemeteries, and crematories of all sizes across North America. Chris was General Counsel for the Texas Funeral Directors Association and General Counsel and on the Board of Directors for the Cremation Association of North America for over 7 years each. Chris founded The Farmer Firm eight years ago and served as outside general counsel to many successful businesses. As NFDA’s General Counsel, Chris provides counsel on litigation, regulatory matters, business matters, buying and selling, employment law, and any other legal matters our profession faces.
Nicholas Ricci
Instructor, Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science
Nick has been an instructor at PIMS since February of 2016 and moved into the position as a full-time faculty member in July of 2019. He teaches several business courses at PIMS and specializes in the Arts portion of the curriculum. Nick is a 2010 graduate of Woodland Hills High School; January 2014 graduate of Duquesne University School of Business (Finance); January 2015 graduate (Class 150) of the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science; and is currently enrolled in Concord Law School, an online law program through Purdue University Global. Nick is also an instructor in the clinical embalming and restorative art lab experiences at PIMS.