Kansas State University

MANHATTAN — The head of Kansas State University's interior architecture & product design department in the College of Architecture, Planning & Design has become the first person from the university to be elected president of the Interior Design Educators Council Inc.

Katherine Ankerson's term as the council's 32nd president starts May 1. She has spent 2013-2014 as the council's president-elect.

Founded in 1962, the Interior Design Educators Council Inc. is a North American organization dedicated to the development and improvement of interior design education. Its mission is one of advancing interior design education, scholarship and service. With a strong and active member base, the council is also home to the Journal of Interior Design, a scholarly, refereed publication dedicated to scholarly inquiry related to issues representing the entire spectrum of design of the interior environment.

"I am excited by Kathy's example of national leadership in service to her profession. Her engagement is a powerful example of active leadership in advancing the design professions for all of our students," said Tim de Noble, dean of the College of Architecture, Planning & Design, or APDesign.

Ankerson is completing her third year as head of the interior architecture & product design department. Before joining Kansas State University, she served as an associate dean and a professor at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She also served in academic positions at Radford University and Washington State University after spending many years as a practicing architect and designer.

A strong proponent of design education, Ankerson believes in the potency of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary engagement, the value of design plus making, and embracing new technologies in addition to strengthening traditional design tools. She thinks that design education today must prepare global design citizens who foster synergy, embrace successful collaboration, and who recognize interconnectedness with an awareness of the responsibility of individual and collective actions in personal, social and environmental arenas.

Ankerson is an active author and has written multiple books published by Fairchild Books. Her book "Illustrated Codes of Designers: Residential" received theInterior Design Educators Council's 2013 Book Award. She was the lead for the 20th anniversary Nuckolls Lighting grant activity that involved nine other educators from four major universities who initiated and produced the Web-based resource Lighting Across the (Design) Curriculum, whichincludes a series of seven interactive modules. This resource was awarded the 2013 Media Award from the Interior Design Educators Council.

Ankerson received a Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture from Washington State University.