Samuel Hoi

Samuel Hoi, is the current president of Otis College of Art and Design, a position he has held since July 2000. He is often referred to as Sammy Hoi.

Education

Hoi was born and raised in Hong Kong. His father was in the furniture business. The family later came to the US where he attended Columbia College in New York City and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with a BA in French and psychology. He earned a JD degree from Columbia Law School and became a member of the New York State Bar. Shortly thereafter, he entered Parsons School of Design to pursue his dream of studying art and received a degree in illustration.

Career

Prior to joining Otis, Hoi served as director of the Paris campus of Parsons School of Design. He was then dean of the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C.. While at the Corcoran, Hoi created the Visual Arts Community Outreach Program, serving the inner-city youth of Washington, D.C. The program received a National Multicultural Institute Award and a Coming Up Taller Award from the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities.

He has juried numerous exhibitions and served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the DC Commission on Art and Humanities, and the California Community Foundation.

Mr. Hoi has served on boards for many organizations, including the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the Arena Stage, and Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative, Inc. Currently, he is chair of the board of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), vice chair of the board of United States Artists (USA), and a board member of the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, Inc. He is a fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities. He holds an honorary doctorate from the Corcoran. In 2006, and was decorated by the French government as an Officer of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques.

Trivia

Hoi's preference for cowboy boots developed when he was finishing his law degree at Columbia University. Already interested in dress as a way of visibly meshing a multicultural background, he decided that cowboy boots were an ideal fit in more ways than one. They were comfortable and suitable to his long stride and natural rhythm while versatile enough to wear with anything from jeans to suits. When people noticed his boots, he was pleased; not only did the boots reinforce his desire to be more individualistic, they were a symbolic indication of my enrichment, the boot being something of the West and also a foreshadowing of my coming to Los Angeles." (Giuntini, Hagen, 47)

Further reading

* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_30_22/ai_63847374 Dean of Design, Samuel Hoi Interview] "Los Angeles Business Journal", July 24, 2000
* [http://www.kcrw.com/news/programs/ww/ww070301arts_education_and_t Arts Education and the Economy] , from "Which Way LA?", a radio program of KCRW
* [http://www.otis.edu/media/Sammy-KCET.html KCET Video] Interview with Sammy Hoi
* [http://www.culturela.org/press/economic_report_otis.pdf Report of the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region]
* [http://library.otis.edu/speechhoi.htm Speech by President Samuel Hoi] at Otis College of Art and Design Commencement, 2003
* [http://www.otis.edu/index.php?id=731 President's Messages]
* "Interview with Sammy Hoi" in "Garb: A Fashion and Culture Reader", edited by Parme Giuntini and Kathryn Hagen