Lucia Pierce lives in Shanghai where she is a partner at Shanghai Education Consulting Associates, a group that works with local students who want to study in the U.S. Prior to moving to China, Lucia served for 12 years as head of education at the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Asian art museums at the Smithsonian. She has also been a consultant in the arts and Asian studies education. Lucia holds two Master's degrees, one in Asian Studies Education from New York University and one in Chinese history from Yale University. She has also traveled extensively throughout Asia and accompanied Smithsonian travelers on various tours to China, Central and Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.