SCAD founder and president Paula Wallace at a dedication ceremony for SCAD Serve Paint Our Parks mural at the Sara J. González Memorial Park in Atlanta

Forty-five years after she founded the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), CEO, educator, entrepreneur, author and executive producer of many award-winning SCAD films, Paula Wallace has debuted her latest book, Lessons in Leadership. Drawing from her experiences as one of the longest-serving female presidents in the history of U.S. higher education, Wallace outlines an innovative framework with 10 hands-on lessons for new and established leaders.

“Our SCAD students and alumni and other entrepreneurial dreamers and leaders can apply everything from the book to their own careers and lives—whether they want to lead within an established brand or launch their own,” says Wallace.

Published by SCAD University Press, Lessons In Leadership guides readers on sharpening their approaches to leadership, illuminated by Wallace’s tried-and-true philosophies and her more than fifty years of experience as an educator. Wallace’s introspections regarding education, influence and entrepreneurship, she says, inspired her to begin writing her book.

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Lessons in Leadership, an innovative new book by founder and president of SCAD Paula Wallace

“All through Lessons in Leadership, readers will see how being a teacher has made me a different kind of CEO,” says Wallace. “Think about it: CEOs and teachers share quite a lot in common. We set targets and assess results. We create and impart new knowledge. We provide timely and actionable feedback. We motivate others with compassion to contribute more effectively.”

Since assuming her role as CEO in 2000, Wallace has tripled SCAD’s enrollment, raised the school’s alumni employment rate to 99%, led the creation of new SCAD locations and implemented three top teaching museums. Wallace has also helmed the creation of more than 100 academic degree programs, many of which are the first of their kind, including the M.A. and M.F.A. in sneaker design, the new Master of Business Innovation, the new and first B.F.A. in user experience research which SCAD partnered with Google on, as well as the first accredited degrees in themed entertainment design, luxury and brand management and business of beauty and fragrance.

Savannah College of Art and Design founder and president, Paula Wallace

“I’m a lifelong educator, yes—and also one of the only female university founders in the world and one of the longest-serving university presidents in the U.S.,” says Wallace. “As a young, entrepreneurial public school teacher, I developed a truly novel idea that revolutionized the world of higher education: an art and design college in the South devoted to creative professions rather than avocations.”

This spring, the college has announced an initiative to support and empower the Atlanta and Savannah communities, the SCAD SERVE Community Fund. Helmed by Wallace, the SCAD-sponsored grant program awards up to $1 million to local nonprofits and government entities. SCAD Serve, the university’s in-house research lab, aids local causes with an emphasis on supplying food, shelter, clothing, safety, education and environmental equity.

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