Michael White

Associate Professor Michael White returns to the leadership role as Director of the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design where he has previously served as director (from 2012-2018).

Professor White came to Georgia State in 2002 and was tenured in 2008. He is both NCARB and NCIDQ certified and is a registered architect and interior designer in the State of Georgia with degrees from Mississippi State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Michael joined Georgia State following an extensive national career in interior architectural practice, most notably as Studio Director of the Atlanta office of Gensler—the nation’s largest interior architecture firm. His 20+ years of professional experience in commercial interiors included more than one million square feet in projects for national clients including Aetna, the McDonald’s Corporation, Bank of America, BlueCross BlueShield, GTE, and Atlanta’s own legal powerhouse, King & Spalding.

Under his leadership, the interior design program at GSU has achieved significant clarity in scope and direction and has garnered added recognition of its faculty and students, with six of the nation’s top ten interior design firms now employing Georgia State alumni. Michael recently concluded a four-year project as Co-PI on two STEAM-centric grants with Atlanta’s innovative Drew Charter Schools sponsored by the Georgia Governor’s Office of Student Achievement and the Goizueta Foundation, Outcomes of that work yielded online professional development modules in art & design and co-authored articles on the design and implementation of STEAM-centric professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers as a community outreach initiative by university art & design programs.