In 2003, William Carlson (b. 1950) received his MFA in 1976 from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and a BFA from Cleveland Institute of Art in 1973. He was formerly a Professor of Art and head of the Crafts and Sculpture programs at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign from 1976-2003. Throughout Bills academic career, he completed numerous major public commissions. 

 In 2003, Bill became the Chair of the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Miami. Currently he is an Endowed Professor at the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Miami Carlson has significantly impacted the contemporary art glass movement as both an artist and an educator. In 1993 the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass, Chicago, Illinois Academy of Fine Arts, nominated him for “Excellence in Glass Education”, Decorative Artist. The James Renwick Alliance, of the Smithsonian Institution of the National Galleries of American Art, awarded him the Distinguished Craft Education Award in 2004. Carlson’s most recent recognition is through the Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art, Washington, DC. As a documented artist in the Archives of Oral Art History Program and invited to the Archives Research Collections in Washington, DC. As a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and the Illinois Arts Council, he has participated in many one-person invitational and group exhibitions. He is widely published both nationally and internationally. His art is represented in numerous private and public collections. Following is a selected group of museums exhibiting his sculpture. William Carlson resides and has his studio in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.