Pamela Simpson to Address Fall Convocation at W&L
Pamela Hemenway Simpson, the Ernest Williams II Professor of Art and Art History at Washington and Lee University, will present the 2011 Fall Convocation address on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 5:30 p.m., in Warner Center.
The title of Simpson’s address is “Reflections on White Columns.”
The event will be streamed live on the University’s website.
The convocation marks the beginning of Washington and Lee’s 263rd academic year and of the 163rd year of the School of Law.
Simpson joined the Washington and Lee faculty in 1973. During her tenure at the University, she has served as chair of the Department of Art and Art History on two occasions, and as assistant and then associate dean of the College from 1981 through 1986. From 1984 to 1986, she chaired the Coeducation Steering Committee, which implemented the University’s decision to admit women.
A graduate of Gettysburg College, she received her M.A. in art history from the University of Missouri and her Ph.D. in art history from the University of Delaware. She is the author of the 1999 book Cheap, Quick and Easy: Imitative Architectural Materials, 1870-1930, and is co-author with the late Royster Lyle Jr. of The Architecture of Historic Lexington. Simpson is completing work on a new book, Icons of Abundance: The History of Corn Palaces and Butter Sculpture.
The winner of numerous honors and awards for her teaching and scholarship, Simpson received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the Virginia State Council on Higher Education in 1995, and the Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Southeast College Art Conference (SECAC) in 2010.
The ceremony is open to the public.
