Born in 1965, Michael Paul Austern Cohen is from the Monterey Peninsula. He paints in Carmel, California and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and writes poetry throughout the world. Michael is an accomplished artist and poet. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Virginia Tech with major concentrations in mathematics and history, and minor concentrations in art, art history and philosophy. Michael also completed non-certificate graduate course work at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., concentrating in drawing and painting. He holds a graduate juris doctorate degree, magna cum laude, from Washington & Lee University.

In addition to his accomplishments in art and poetry, Michael advises global businesses on their multinational, intercontinental cross-border competition policies, and holds graduate school faculty positions teaching this subject at major universities around the world.