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Paula S. Wallace is the president and co-founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design, founded in 1978. Over the last 30 years, she has served as the college's academic dean and provost, becoming president in 2000. Since that time, Wallace has led the college in unprecedented growth, making it the largest comprehensive art and design college in the United States, with more than 9,000 students and 1,000 faculty and staff. Wallace has established three new campuses during her administration: SCAD-Lacoste, the college's idyllic campus in the Provençal region of France; , the college's award-winning distance-learning program; and SCAD-Atlanta, the college's urban campus that has grown from 77 students in 2005 to nearly 1,500 students.
Thanks to the college's growth under Wallace, SCAD was recently named by Kaplan/Newsweek as one of "America's 25 Hottest Colleges" and the "Hottest for Studying Art." Kaplan also recently named SCAD one of "25 schools with an eye toward the future." Also, Forbes Small Business Magazine named SCAD one of "America's Best Colleges for Entrepreneurs," and DesignIntelligence magazine named the SCAD interior design graduate program the No. 1 program in the nation.
Wallace created many of the college's most innovative academic and outreach programs, including the Art Educators' Forum and the Rising Star summer program, and she oversees the college's permanent art collection and the . Wallace also created many of the college's most popular annual events, including the , one of Savannah's premier outdoor festivals, and , a full week of style and design events including lectures, exhibitions, trunk shows and booksignings. SCAD Style begins every year with the in New York, where the college annually honors important figures in style and design. The most recent Étoile Award winners are designer Jonathan Adler, editor of Elle Décor Margaret Russell, and fashion and branding icon Pierre Cardin. Wallace also founded the , now in its 11th year - an event that attracts an audience of more than 40,000 people and features an independent film competition, lectures and workshops by some of the world's most well-known filmmakers, and screenings of much-anticipated feature films (including several films each year that go on to win Academy Awards) before they are released nationwide.
Wallace created and , two creative concepts that teach SCAD students about the marketplace. ShopSCAD is a boutique with locations in Savannah and Atlanta where SCAD faculty, students and alumni create and sell their original work, including clothes, books, jewelry, tableware, paintings, prints and stationery. ShopSCAD is regularly reviewed and mentioned in style and design publications from Veranda to The New York Times 'T' Magazine. Working Class Studio is an innovative product development venture for the college, marrying function to fine art in product lines sold domestically in retail stores and around the world. Products including tableware, picture frames and decorative pillows are designed and created by SCAD students, faculty and alumni artists. Working Class Studio recently has collaborated with Williams Sonoma/west elm and Barnes & Noble Booksellers to sell SCAD products in their stores around the world, and to collaborate on new product lines.
In 2004, Ernst & Young awarded President Wallace the Principled Leadership Award for the Southeast. In 2005, Wallace was named one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians by Georgia Trend magazine. Also in 2005, Wallace was appointed Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the Conseiller Culturel and Consul Général of the French Embassy in the United States of America. In 2008, she was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award by the Georgia State University College of Education. She is a member of the National Advisory Board of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and was appointed by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to the Georgia Film, Video and Music Advisory Commission.
Wallace has advanced the SCAD legacy of historic preservation and its commitment to renewing urban landscapes through an impressive series of restoration projects in the medieval village of Lacoste, in Midtown Atlanta, and in the historic district of Savannah, Ga. Most recently, SCAD has restored a 19th-century synagogue, an abandoned military hospital, several historic public school buildings, and the oldest extant railroad depot in the United States - transforming them into thriving homes for SCAD academic programs. This commitment to the building arts has earned awards for SCAD from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Art Deco Societies of America, the American Society of Interior Designers, and the American Institute of Architects. SCAD properties also have been featured in recent catalogs for J.Crew and Anthropologie.
Wallace has written children's and interior design books, and she is an award-winning interior designer and classical pianist. Her latest book, "A House in the South," from Clarkson Potter Press, has been tremendously successful and has received praise from several national publications including Town & Country. Her next book project, this time focused on the allure and style of porches, is scheduled for release in 2009. Wallace earned a B.A. degree from Furman University, M.Ed. and Ed.S. degrees from Georgia State University, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from Gonzaga University. When not leading SCAD, Wallace spends her time with her husband, Glenn, and her four children: John Paul, Marisa, Madison and Trace.
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