The Excellence in Academic Outreach award honors those who exemplify UT’s land-grant mission by using intellectual capital to benefit the citizens of Tennessee.
Katherine B. Ambroziak
Katherine B. Ambroziak,associate professor in the College of Architecture and Design, combines her wealth of knowledge and love for service to benefit people far beyond our campus. She helped develop and launch the Smart Communities Initiative, which is now active in the city of Cleveland, Tennessee. She’s also passionate about the Odd Fellows Cemetery and Potters Fields projects, both of which involve reclamation and rehabilitation of historically and culturally significant places in East Knoxville. Her nominator said, “Katherine’s work has helped to build a powerful bridge to this East Knoxville community. Not only has she brought the community to the table, she has brought our whole college along with her.”
Ambroziak’s work in rural Appalachia explores ways to address needs where poverty, illiteracy, and a lack of health care are prevalent. Her most recent efforts have focused on a new volunteer firehouse at the Red Bird Mission in Clay County, Kentucky, as part of the Community Health and Disaster Readiness project funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Ambroziak has coordinated conversations between UT students and Red Bird staff, fire and disaster officials, and other community residents to facilitate a design that will have a long-term positive impact.