Miriam L. Wallace is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Illinois-Springfield, and Professor of English. She is a graduate of Swarthmore College (BA) and the University of California, Santa Cruz (MA/PhD) in Literature. As a proud liberal arts graduate, she advocates for the value and impact of academic study, art making and performance, public presentations, and study abroad—noting their impact on self-confidence, intellectual curiosity, and personal and professional growth.