Paige Williams, ’87, was honored with the Professional Achievement Award from Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). The Best of Eastern Alumni Awards, presented annually during Homecoming weekend, celebrate excellence among EKU alumni. The Professional Achievement Award recognizes individuals who have made significant and lasting service to their field, earning the respect and admiration of their peers and colleagues.
From her earliest days sketching alongside her architect father in Lexington, Williams discovered the joy of creating and the discipline of design. That passion grew at EKU, where she studied painting, found mentors like Professor Ron Isaacs and broadened her world through a transformative study abroad program in Austria. Those experiences not only shaped her as an artist but also gave her the confidence to pursue teaching—a calling that would define her career.
Today, Williams serves as dean of visual and performing arts at Endicott College, guiding future generations of artists and scholars. Her leadership is grounded in the same creative problem-solving and empathy that animate her work in the studio. A two-time recipient of the Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection Excellence in Teaching Award, she has also earned recognition from the Ohio Arts Council and Summerfair Cincinnati, while exhibiting nationally and internationally from Munich to New York.
Beyond her professional achievements, Williams has made access to opportunity a cornerstone of her career. She established the Paige Williams Scholarship to support first-generation students and has consistently worked to remove barriers so that all students can thrive.
When asked what advice she would offer to students, Williams said, “Life rarely follows a straight line, and success can involve unexpected turns and opportunities you couldn’t have predicted. Trust that each experience is teaching you something valuable for the path ahead.”
For Williams, success is not measured by gallery walls or accolades, but by the lives she has touched through teaching, mentoring and championing a sense of belonging within the arts.
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