Kenneth Shuler, Cosmetology School Founder, Dies at 85

Kenneth Shuler, founder of the Kenneth Shuler School of Cosmetology, died on October 11, 2026, at age 85. His career in the trade ran more than six decades, from a barber's chair in 1959 to an eight-campus education network across the Southeast, run alongside his wife Angie.

Shuler was born in Holly Hill, South Carolina, and entered the industry in 1959 as a barber. In 1968 he acquired Capitol Barber College and founded Kenneth Shuler School of Men's Hairstyling, which later became the Kenneth Shuler School of Cosmetology. Over the following decades, the schools trained thousands of barbering and beauty professionals across the region — a pipeline many salon owners in the Southeast have likely drawn staff from.

Tonya Hanna, Director of Education at American Crew, reflected on the scope of his influence and on his model of training.

"Mr. Shuler helped shape the beauty industry with a lifelong commitment to education, mentorship, and opportunity," Hanna said. "From his beginnings as a barber to building Kenneth Shuler School of Cosmetology, he championed an approach to education that went beyond technical skills, preparing beauty professionals with the confidence, business knowledge, and hands-on experience needed to build successful careers."

Hanna also noted a specific commercial marker of that reach: during her time running the American Crew Partner School division, Kenneth Shuler was the largest American Crew Partner School in the program.

"He leaves a legacy of generations of professionals and educators who continue to carry his influence throughout the beauty industry," she said.

What did his leadership contribute beyond the classroom?

Shuler served three consecutive terms as president of the National Association of Barber Schools, the body representing barber training institutions at national level. His work drew formal recognition twice: South Carolina awarded him the Order of the Palmetto, the state's highest civilian honor, in 2014, and he received the national N.F. Cimaglia Award in 2018 for contributions to beauty education.

His model mattered to working salons because it treated business training as part of the license, not an afterthought. Graduates entered the floor with client-facing confidence and commercial knowledge alongside technical skills — the combination salon managers most often cite as the gap in new hires.

Shuler is survived by his wife Angie, who co-led the school network. The institutions he founded continue to operate across their eight campuses, and the next measurable indicator of his model's durability will be how those schools perform through the coming enrolment cycles.