Mary Vernon, Professor of Art in Meadows School of the Arts, joined the SMU faculty in 1967. She earned B.F.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of New Mexico. She served as chair of the art history department in 1979-1981 and chair of the art department in 1987-1995. Her drawing, painting and color theory courses fostered the careers of countless successful artists and curators. Professor Vernon was named Meadows Foundation Distinguished Teaching Professor in 1998 and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor in 2006. She received the Faculty Career Achievement Award in 2017. She also received a Moss-Chumley North Texas Artist Award, is a Fellow at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, and was named the Dallas Art Fair Artist Honoree in 2017. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally in France, Hungary, Chile and Kazakhstan, and is included in collections of The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, The Belo Foundation, the U.S. Department of State, the Meadows Museum, as well as in many other corporate and private collections. In 2016, the Meadows School established the Mary Vernon Painting Prize in her honor, an annual award to help outstanding undergraduates launch their art careers. She retires as Professor Emerita of Art.
Mary Vernon, Professor of Art in Meadows School of the Arts, joined the SMU faculty in 1967. She earned B.F.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of New Mexico. She served as chair of the art history department in 1979-1981 and chair of the art department in 1987-1995. Her drawing, painting and color theory courses fostered the careers of countless successful artists and curators. Professor Vernon was named Meadows Foundation Distinguished Teaching Professor in 1998 and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor in 2006. She received the Faculty Career Achievement Award in 2017. She also received a Moss-Chumley North Texas Artist Award, is a Fellow at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, and was named the Dallas Art Fair Artist Honoree in 2017. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally in France, Hungary, Chile and Kazakhstan, and is included in collections of The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, The Belo Foundation, the U.S. Department of State, the Meadows Museum, as well as in many other corporate and private collections. In 2016, the Meadows School established the Mary Vernon Painting Prize in her honor, an annual award to help outstanding undergraduates launch their art careers. She retires as Professor Emerita of Art.