Perry Wallace
Portrait Details
Artist: Simmie Knox
Year: 2018
Biography
Perry Wallace, who enrolled at Vanderbilt in 1966, was the first African American varsity basketball player in the Southeastern Conference. Wallace received numerous honors during his time on campus, winning the SEC Sportsmanship Trophy after a vote by league players. After completing his bachelor of engineering in 1970, he earned a law degree from Columbia University. He began working at the Department of Justice and in 1992 was appointed to the Environmental Policy Advisory Council of the Environmental Protection Agency. Wallace later became a professor, teaching at Howard University, the University of Baltimore and American University. In 2004, Vanderbilt officially retired his jersey No. 25. He was also inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame and was named by the National Association of Basketball Coaches to its five-man Silver Anniversary All-America Team. In 2015, a scholarship for Vanderbilt students was created by his classmates in his honor, and the next year he was inducted into the School of Engineering’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni. Wallace’s story was the subject of The New York Times best-selling book Strong Inside by alumnus Andrew Maraniss. Wallace’s life was also detailed in the documentary film Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace. Chosen to receive the 2017 Vanderbilt University Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award, Wallace died that December and his family accepted the honor on his behalf in 2018.