[4] After realizing there was nowhere for her students to continue their artistic pursuit, Wallace and her family sold their belongings to buy Poetter Hall.
[7] In 2000, she was appointed to the office of president of the university by the SCAD Board of Trustees, and continues to serve in that role.
[10] Since Wallace became president of SCAD, the university has added campus locations in Atlanta, Ga. (in 2005), Lacoste, France (in 2002) and Hong Kong (in 2010), and an eLearning program online (in 2003).
During her presidency, the university has received recognition for its work in historic preservation, including awards from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation,[15] UNESCO,[16] the International Interior Design Association and the American Library Association,[17] and the American Institute of Architects,[18] among others.
[23] In addition to writing a number of publications on design and children's books,[24][25] in April 2016 Wallace released a ghostwritten memoir, The Bee and the Acorn, detailing her experiences as a co-founder and president of SCAD and the development of the university.
The newspaper's report on nonprofit compensation found Wallace to be the highest-paid college leader and the eighth-highest-paid employee of an American charity.