Savannah College of Art and Design President Paula Wallace was on a list of notable — and some will say controversial — Americans President Joe Biden presented with Presidential Citizens Medals Thursday.
The White House called Wallace a “trailblazer of the arts” who “dreamt of a school that would transform how we think about professional education.”
Wallace founded the private art school in 1978. Since then, it has grown to a total enrollment of more than 17,500 with campuses in Savannah, Atlanta and France. The medal is the second-highest honor a president can award to a civilian.
Last year, Biden awarded medals to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, Fulton County election workers who became the target of threats and harassment after allies of then-President Donald Trump concocted conspiracy theories about them following Trump’s defeat in Georgia in 2020. He also awarded a medal to Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, an Atlanta native who was injured defending the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Aside from Wallace, Biden’s picks this year included U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, and former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming. Thompson chaired the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot, and Cheney served as vice chair. Both have been outspoken about Trump’s role in the riot. Following his 2024 reelection, Trump has suggested that members of that committee be investigated.
Wallace’s selection is not without controversy. A 2017 investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution looked at Wallace’s near-total grip on the nonprofit private university, including her extraordinarily high salary and benefits, which include multiple residences paid for by the college. At one time, Wallace was the highest-paid private university president in the nation, the investigation found.
Established in 1969, the Presidential Citizens Medal is bestowed for exemplary service to the nation in a variety of fields, including medicine, the arts, religion and human rights.
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