Eiland awarded "Distinguished Alumni" from Birmingham Southern College

On October 22, Georgia Museum of Art director William Underwood Eiland received the honor of Distinguished Alumni from Birmingham-Southern College (BSC) at its annual Alumni Awards Luncheon on the BSC campus. The awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the college’s 2010 Homecoming/Reunion Weekend festivities, where others were presented with Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Young Alumni awards.
A native of Sprott, Eiland has been the director of the Georgia Museum of Art since 1992. He took a B.A. (summa cum laude) from BSC in 1970 and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. Eiland is the son of the late Ann Clark Eiland of Brent and Sprott, the grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. L. N. Clark and the nephew of the late Lawrence Neal Clark, Jr. all of Brent.
“I am humbled by this undeserved honor; to the extent that it reflects my love for Birmingham-Southern and my pride in the liberal-arts education I received there, I am pleased to join the long list of its distinguished alumni,” said Eiland of his recent award.
Eiland is also a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and has received several fellowships, including the Danforth Teaching Fellowship at the University of Virginia, a Museum Professionals Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and a Research Fellowship from the University of Georgia Willson Center for Humanities and Arts. He also has edited and contributed to more than 50 publications, including Art Papers, Georgia Journal, US Art, Ceramics Monthly, Southern Antiques and English Literature in Transition and has served as general editor of seven catalogues at the Georgia Museum of Art. Notably, Eiland wrote “The Truth in Things: The Life and Career of Lamar Dodd,” published by the University of Georgia Press.
He serves on the boards of the American Association of Museums, the Southeastern Museums Conference and the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries; is a trustee of the Association of Art Museum Directors; and is chairman of the Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Advisory Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Eiland earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries in 2007. The Southeastern College Art Conference named him Outstanding Museum Professional in 1999, and the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries named him Museum Professional of the Year in 2000. He also served as the vice-chairman of the American Association of Museums in 2004–2005. Eiland was inducted into the Sigma Pi Kappa national honor society in spring 2010.