Paula Wallace
SCAD president and founder
Paula Wallace is the president and founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design, a private, nonprofit, accredited institution recognized as The University for Creative Careers. Established in 1978, SCAD is the most comprehensive art and design university in the U.S., with locations in Savannah and Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France; as well as an award-winning eLearning program. She served as academic dean and provost of SCAD for 22 years and has served as president of the university since 2000. As president, Wallace has led the university in unprecedented growth, more than doubling enrollment from fewer than 5,000 students to nearly 13,000 students. Wallace created and championed many of the university's most popular annual events, including the Savannah Film Festival, SCAD deFINE ART, SCADstyle, the SCAD Sidewalk Arts Festival and SCAD TVfest.
Wallace has also founded two respected teaching museums, the SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah and SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta, as well as galleries and other initiatives designed to present student and alumni artwork to the world. She is the author of several children's books and two interior design titles: Perfect Porches: Designing Welcoming Spaces for Outdoor Living and A House in the South: Old-Fashioned Graciousness of New-Fashioned Times. Among many awards and honors, she has been named among the world's "30 Most Admired Educators" by DesignIntelligence and Southeast Area Ernst & Young Principled Leadership Entrepreneur of the Year, and was awarded the inaugural Elle Decor Vision Award. Wallace has been appointed a Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Embassy in the U.S., awarded the Phoenix Award by the City of Atlanta and was recognized with the Arthur Ross Award for Stewardship by the Institute of Classical Art and Architecture. The Georgia Historical Society named her a 2015 Georgia Trustee, and the American Institute of Architects awarded her an honorary membership for distinguished service to the profession of architecture. She currently serves on the National Advisory Board of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.