May 2, 2024 Ambroziak Named James R. Cox Professor for 2024

Katherine Ambroziak, associate professor of architecture and associate dean for academic affairs and research, has been selected as a James R. Cox Professor. She was announced as a recipient of the professorship by Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor John Zomchick at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Academic Honors Banquet.

The three-year award provides a total stipend to be used at the recipient’s discretion. She becomes the fourth faculty member from the College of Architecture and Design to be awarded the professorship.

Ambroziak has been recognized with the 2019 Diversity Achievement Award by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, the 2016 Fred & Rosalee Oakley Award from the Association of Gravestone Studies, and the 2015 UT Excellence in Academic Outreach.

In addition to her teaching and research, Ambroziak has a long-standing service to community-based initiatives including the UT Smart Communities Initiative, Appalachia and the Red Bird Mission of Clay County, and most significantly, the Odd Fellows Cemetery Reclamation Initiative. Her sustained work on this project has progressed from hosting community discussions to implementing various design projects within the cemetery that vitalize and showcase the significance of the cultural site.

“Besides being completely humbled by this, I am encouraged that the Cox Professorship recognizes service, in all its forms, as a commendable activity aligned with teaching and scholarship,” said Ambroziak. “I know how fortunate I have been to meld the three in a way that holds significance for me, my students, my colleagues, and my community. The community organizations I work with and my community partner, the Knoxville Re-Animation Coalition, are my sources of joy. They have allowed me to experience intellectual and personal growth, and to be part of a history that roots Knoxville. I also appreciate the encouragement by the university for engagement work – that our academy allows room for this kind of research exploration.”

The James R. Cox Professorship honors faculty members for excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service. The university’s gifts from Cox, a Knoxville native, helped establish professorships in 2002 for faculty in the arts, theater, biological and physical sciences, architecture, and forestry industries.

His generosity extended to the College of Architecture and Design with the establishment of an endowment in honor of his nephew, James Musgraves who graduated with his architecture degree in 1970.

Previous recipients of the Cox Professorship from the college include Tricia Stuth, Edgar Stach, and George Dodds.