Ruth Beals

Owings Associate Professor Emerita of Interior Design

Professor Beals retired in May 2019.

Professor Beals is an interior design educator. She holds a masters degree in interior design from the University of North Carolina, a B.A. degree in interior design from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and is NCIDQ certified. Her specialties are lighting and corporate design. Having joined Converse College in 2008, Professor Beals has also taught interior design in an American university located in the country of Qatar and in a private college in Florida. Her students have won numerous awards in regional and national design competitions.

She recently received the prestigious 2015-2016 ASID Carolinas Chapter Educator Award. Previous awards include the 2000 Edison Price Fellowship, recognitions for service from the ASID, and a copious amount of grants for research and personal development. Her lighting research has been published in Architectural Lighting magazine. She has been a tireless volunteer advisor, co-chair, and committee chair for the ASID Carolinas Otto Zenke Student Design Competition, working with students past and present on this event.

Professor Beals continues to practice interior design with recent interior solutions supplied for Shell’s corporate headquarters and their research and training center, both located in Doha, Qatar.