Tad Fallon grew up around art and antiques, working within the family business, Copake Auctions Inc., prior to college. In 1991, after beginning college as a studio art major, he entered the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Restoration program in New York City and studied decorative arts restoration. After graduation he worked at Sotheby’s Restoration as a supervisor in the Finishing Department. In 1996 he was accepted to the Smithsonian Institution’s graduate Furniture Conservation Training Program, and from 1999-2000, Tad served a graduate internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Sherman Fairchild Center for Objects Conservation. He holds a certificate of completion from the Smithsonian Institution and an MA in Conservation from Antioch University, in Yellow Springs, Ohio. In 2000 he formed a business partnership with fellow Smithsonian classmate and renowned furniture maker Randy Wilkinson to open the private conservation practice Fallon & Wilkinson, LLC, where he specializes in the treatment and research of both historic and modern surfaces, colorants, and coatings.