Contact: Jack Bailey (304) 766-4109 Jbaile19@wvstateu.edu INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State University (WVSU) Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities Dr. Robert Wallace has been named to the Board of Directors for the Kanawha County Public Library. Wallace’s appointment to the board was effective in early August.

Wallace has been serving as dean of the WVSU College of Arts & Humanities since 2016. In addition to his duties at WVSU, Wallace also serves on the Board of Directors for the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences of West Virginia.
“I am excited by the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors for the Kanawha County Public Library because the library is such an important part of the area, and with the recent renovations to the main branch in downtown Charleston, it is poised to play an even larger role in the intellectual and cultural life of the Kanawha Valley and the rest of the state,” Wallace said. “I also like the opportunities that being more engaged with the library system will bring to our students at West Virginia State University.”
Since coming to WVSU in 2004, Wallace has served the university in many ways, including as a professor of English and as the chair of the English Department. He has also served as interim associate provost and vice president for academic affairs for the university.
Wallace has published academic articles in English Education, English Leadership Quarterly, and other places, and he has presented at national conferences, specifically on what motivates young people to read and write, as well as on how to respond to student writing. He has also published poems and stories in many regional and national journals. Recently, some of his poems were translated into Spanish and published in Encuentros at La Universidad Autonoma Del Caribe. A full collection of his poetry, “Hawk on a Power Line,” was published by Louisiana Literature Press in 2015.
Some awards and honors received by Wallace include an Academy of American Poets Prize; a West Virginia Humanities Council grant; the nomination of his poem “Bunting” in 2016 for a Pushcart Prize; a nomination for Developmental Instructor of the Year by the West Virginia Association for Development Education in 2015; and the Retention Connection Award by WVSU in 2014.
Wallace earned his doctorate degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and his master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature from Pfeiffer College.
Wallace resides in Charleston, West Virginia, with his wife, Cathy. The couple has two daughters, Rachel and Claire.
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