STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State Professor and Head of the Department of Art Jamie Runnells is a 2026 National Council of Arts Administrators fellowship selection.
Runnells is one of seven individuals nationwide chosen by the organization’s board for this year’s Jim Hopfensperger Fellowship for Emerging Arts Administrators, which pairs each recipient with an experienced NCAA member based on shared interests, professional experience and career goals. Runnells will be mentored this year by Barbara Campbell Thomas, the director of the School of Art at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Fellows receive a one-year NCAA membership and full registration to the NCAA annual conference.
“I’m honored to have been named an NCAA Emerging Arts Administrators Fellow,” Runnells said. “This organization and its members have been tremendous resources, giving me opportunities to exchange ideas and strategies in arts administration while fostering meaningful connections with arts professionals across the country.”
Runnells returned to MSU in 2025 to lead the Department of Art after previously teaching at the university from 2002 to 2013. Before returning, she served as coordinator of Jacksonville State University’s Master of Fine Arts program, where she was named a Distinguished Professor of Graphic Design.
Her teaching interests include branding, typography, publication and editorial design, surface and pattern design, illustration, advertising design, product and packaging design, wayfinding, and information design, emphasizing design thinking, systems-based approaches, and thoughtful visual storytelling. Runnells also is an illustrator with clients that include Countryman Press, Bon Appétit magazine, Spirituality & Health magazine and Edible San Diego.
Visit www.caad.msstate.edu/art to learn more about MSU’s Department of Art.
Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters.