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K-State Today

May 6, 2011

College of Architecture, Planning and Design welcomes new department head of interior architecture and product design

Submitted by Emily Vietti

Professor Kathy Ankerson

The College of Architecture, Planning and Design has appointed Katherine S. Ankerson, M.S., NCARB, IDEC, to the position of head of the department of interior architecture and product design, effective July 1.

Ankerson is currently the associate dean and professor of interior design in the College of Architecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she has taught since 1996. During her tenure she was an active member of many university committees, including General Education Reform, the Teaching Council and the University-Wide Assessment Committee.

Prior to joining the University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty, Ankerson taught at Radford University in Virginia and at Washington State University. Her teaching is informed by 15 years as an architect and interior design practitioner, including at the Ankerson Design Group, the firm she founded in 1990. Ankerson's work is focused in the areas of senior living -- particularly adaptive environments that encourage aging-in-place -- and interactive teaching and learning models in the design disciplines. She is the author or co-author of six books, including the forthcoming "Illustrated Codes for Designers: Residential" and "Illustrated Codes for Designers: Non-Residential." She is the recipient of the 2010 CIDA Innovations in Design Education Merit award, the 2006 University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Architecture Distinguished Teaching award and the 2004-2006 Cecil M. Steward Distinguished Professorship award, among others. 

"Professor Ankerson brings a distinguished record of scholarship and leadership to our college," said Tim de Noble, dean of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design. "She is a great educator, a wonderful studio professor, researcher and author, and as such, a superb mentor for her faculty. Her numerous abilities, including successfully marshaling many design-research projects, will help the department and the college on its trajectory in line with the metrics of the K-State 2025 initiative." 

Ankerson received her bachelor of architecture and master of science in architecture degrees from Washington State University.