The American Conservatory of Music was a major American school of music founded in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt . The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It was located in Chicago until 1991 when its Board of Trustees—chaired by Frederic Wilbur Hickman —voted to close the institution, file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, liquidate the assets, and dissolve the corporation. An organization in Hammond, Indiana and Belize, currently uses the name "American Conservatory of Music" and identifies itself as the reorganized continuation of the Chicago institution.LeadershipFormer conservatory presidents 1886–1931: John James Hattstaedt (1851–1931) 1935–1971: John Robert Hattstaedt (1887–1978), John James Hattstaedt's son, a Princeton graduate, served as president. 1971–1981: Leo Edward Heim (1913–1992) was instrumental in the attempt to save the Conservatory after it had filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 in 1991. In 1981, the Conservatory named him President Emeritus. 1980–1987: Charles Ethelbert Moore (1930–1995), a classical pianist, was president when the Conservatory filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in January 1987. Moore had joined the faculty in 1961 and became Dean in 1972. 1987–1989: Vernon R. Nelson (born 1945), a graduate of the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, temporarily saved the Conservatory, extending its life until 1991. 1989–1990: Steven J. Nelson (no relation to Vernon) 1990–1991: Vernon R. Nelson
