A pivotal figure in the beginning of the NAA, Frank M. Hall served the organization until his death in 1928. He and his wife were instrumental in raising the needed funds to expand the Haydon Art Club into the NAA and to support art classes for beginners in the community. He was a lawyer who became passionate for the arts when he began collecting art for his own home. By the time that he and his wife died, they had accumulated a large number of paintings, sculpture, and other art objects, and all of these were left to the University of Nebraska in addition to a trust fund to directly support the purchasing of new pieces of art.