KSU Architecture’s Associate Professor Kathryn Bedette, AIA and President of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Georgia Chapter proposed the Diversity Pipeline and National Representation resolution to AIA leadership on June 20th at the 2018 Conference on Architecture in New York, New York. The initiative passed asserting a need for a national leadership pipeline of ethnically diverse women candidates for positions on the Institute Board of Directors and Strategic Council, this resolution called for a plan to support the Institute’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. Bedette also serves as the Architect Licensing Advisor for Georgia and was awarded the 2016 AIA Atlanta James Gant Fausett, FAIA, Service to the Profession Award.

Associate Professor Chris Welty, AIA is currently the President-Elect for the AIA-Atlanta and serving as the KSU Architect Licensing Advisor for the National Council of Architectural Registration Board. Building upon his experience in practice, Welty also is the coordinator for KSU Department of Architecture’s Profession Program Sequence. His pedagogical interests center on integration of digital technologies and the art of craft focused around the notion of making.

Alumna Jessika Nelson, Assoc. AIA is currently serving as the Programs Director for AIA Atlanta, and was previously the 2013-2014 Chapter President of American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS). Remaining active in the department, Nelson participated as a volunteer for the Georgia Regional Future City Competition hosted by Kennesaw State University. 

Assistant Professor Tim Frank, AIA received an 2018 AIA Georgia Design and Honor Award for his Angier Springs Monumental Work located along the Atlanta Beltline. Frank’s permanent structure creates a new kind of urban room for the city, offering a retreat for those traveling the promenade. Akin to a budding forest, the open field of slender pillars explores the light demarcation of public space without explicit boundaries. See link:  https://www.aiaga.org/design-award/angier-springs-monumental-work/