W. Roane Beard Visual Materials

William Roane Beard was born on November 4, 1916 in Atlanta, Georgia, to Richard and Minnie Beard. He attended Boys' High School (now Henry W. Grady High School) in Atlanta, and later the Georgia School (now Institute) of Technology. At Georgia Tech, he was Freshman Class President, the Vice President of the Student Council, a member of Omicron Delta Kappa honor society and the Anak Society, the Bulldog Club, the Industrial Management Society, Interfraternity Council, and the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Along with his club and society memberships, Beard was the starting center (number 34) on Georgia Tech's football team, and helped lead the team to the 1940 Orange Bowl Championship. Beard graduated from Tech in 1940 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Management. Beard's older brother, Richard A. Beard, Jr., graduated from Georgia Tech in 1937.

After graduation, Roane Beard married Peggy Boyd and joined the Army during World War II, where he served in Puerto Rico and the South Pacific, retiring as a Major in 1946. He then returned to Atlanta, where he had four children: Ellen, Andrew, Jeffrey, and Daniel. In 1951 became the Executive Secretary of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, as well as the Director of Alumni Services. While serving as Executive Secretary, he helped establish Roll Call, Georgia Tech's annual fund. During Beard's administration, Georgia Tech had the highest alumni giving rate of any public university in the United States. He retired from the Alumni Association in 1977.

Beard was also a member of the board of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta, and the founder of the Cross Keys Kiwanis Club, as well as a member of the Atlanta Touchdown Club.

Beard died on September 21, 1996 in Decatur, Georgia, at the age of 79.