Alkis Tsolakis has a quiet but busy office in the Design Building, where he has looked over the College of Art and Design as dean since January.
He insists his new title does not change his approach to schooling.
“I am a professor,” Tsolakis said. “We do not come from a planet of deans.”
Tsolakis is from Greece, and spent time as a professor of architecture at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri.
“I am from the south,” Tsolakis said. “The south in Europe, but south is the same everywhere.”
He said he grew up near the water, and Baton Rouge, though a bit more inland, provides a similar geographical feel.
Tsolakis spent time at Tulane University, where he initially became acclimated to Louisiana.
Jori Erdman, Director of the School of Architecture, said Tsolakis is still learning about Baton Rouge and its culture.
“He is making an effort to get to know Baton Rouge,” Erdman said. “He engages himself in Louisiana, and will be student of Louisiana for a while.”
Several of his colleagues said Tsolakis’ greatest attribute is his ability to connect with students.
“His interest in people jumps out very quickly,” said Tom Sofranko, associate dean of the College of Art and Design. “He has an amazing memory in names that is prompted by his interest in genuinely getting to know someone.”
Sofranko said he has overheard several meetings Tsolakis has had with students where he meets them on their level.
“He had a student in his office who must have been studying Spanish,” Sofranko said. “And he had the student go through the whole meeting in Spanish and helped him along the way.”
Sofranko said Tsolakis knows six or seven languages, and this characterizes his interest in expanding the college into an international school.
“I don’t push to do things, I pull, like a horse with a carriage,” Tsolakis said. “This is already a good college, and I want to continue the momentum and progress to the highest level: national and international recognition.”
Tsolakis said Louisiana is one of the few places left with a distinct culture of food, music and people.
“People here are warm-hearted,” Tsolakis said. “People at the store will look in your basket and ask what you’re cooking.”
He said Mardi Gras characterizes Louisiana culture — colorful, musical and not afraid to make big statements.
“You know you are in Louisiana when you scan the radio and the music gets better,” Tsolakis said.
Tsolakis has taken interest in Louisiana art and architecture, and he appreciates the new Shaw Museum downtown, as well as the student art in the Union galleries.
“There is a lot happening [at LSU]. Lots of new buildings,” Tsolakis said. “Everyone here appreciates the arts.”
Tsolakis said he enjoyed his first month at LSU, although it was rainy. But since it was not raining in his office, he said, it was busy but pleasant.
He hopes to use his background in sculpture and architecture to build a collaborative effort between art, interior design, landscape architecture and architecture and make the school the best it can be.
“Everyone is an artist in a way. Everyone that does what they do with the intention of making it beautiful,” Tsolakis said. “From the way you prepare a meal and arrange furniture, art purveys in all of life.
