LISA ROSENBAUM
Associate Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart Interiors, Inc.
Atlanta, GA

Provide an educational background including professional experience.

Bachelor of Interior Design from LSU (1979)

Why did you choose LSU for your education?

I knew from a young age I would somehow be involved in design. After meeting Jerry Nielson, our department head, he convinced me that interior design was a great way to make a living. Learning about such things as design, drawing and lighting, as well as architecture, opened up a whole new world for me.

How did your LSU degree help to prepare you for your profession?

After graduating, I started my professional career at ISD and 3DI in Houston. After the Texas oil bust, I worked in New Orleans during the World’s Fair. Then I moved to Atlanta, where I’ve been since 1985, all thanks to relationships with LSU graduates. I’ve been with Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart Interiors, Inc. since then, a large international firm of architects, interior design and landscape architects. I am an associate and one of the “old” ones now in our group of 25 designers.

What current or past research and projects/exhibitions have you done?

Our firm has completed many award-winning and exciting projects, including performing arts theaters, law firms, corporate headquarters, and hotels. Currently, we are riding the high rise residential wave, doing many condos all over the southeast. We have just been named one of the “Interior Design Giants” in Interior Design magazine. Through work, I have been able to travel all over the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and recently, to Italy. LSU definitely had everything to do with where I am today!