May 9, 2013 UT Architecture Faculty Member Honored with Cox Professorship

KNOXVILLE—An architecture faculty member who was instrumental in the design of a nationally recognized energy sustainable house has received the James R. Cox Professorship from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

The three-year award provides Tricia Stuth a stipend of $25,500 to be used at her discretion. Stuth is an associate professor in the UT College of Architecture and Design. She is a licensed architect.

The award is named for Knoxville native James R. Cox, whose gifts to the university through his sister and nephew, Charlotte and Jim Musgraves, helped establish the professorships in 2002 for faculty in the arts, theater, biological and physical sciences, architecture and forestry studies. Recipients are chosen by a committee for their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.

“Professor Stuth’s nomination is an indication of the high regard in which she is held by her colleagues, those who served on the selection committee and the university,” Provost Susan Martin said.

Stuth’s passion for architecture began in the eighth grade when her school required both boys and girls to enroll in home economics and industrial arts. She learned about craft in the wood shop and designed her first house—complete with a budget constraint.

She’s since moved on to more prominent roles. Stuth, along with Robert French, a UT adjunct associate professor of architecture, led the design, construction and evaluation of the New Norris House, which is now one of the most energy-efficient homes in Tennessee. It recently was named one of the nation’s top 10 examples of sustainable architecture and green design by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE).

The New Norris House is also one of the first in Tennessee to earn the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The house was developed by UT students in conjunction with Stuth and other faculty members.

“I am truly honored by the awarding of the Cox Professorship,” Stuth said, noting that the award will support continued research on the design of sustainable housing.

Stuth and her husband, Ted Shelton, a UT associate professor of architecture, also have designed and built two homes in North Knoxville and preserved a third.

The project, Ghost Houses, drew the attention of international architecture and design publication Dwell. The homes were featured in the magazine last year. The project also received an American Institute of Architects National Small Projects Award.

Stuth is director of her college’s Design/Build/Evaluate Initiative (DBEI), a multi-disciplinary learning program. She spearheaded successful efforts last year for the initiative to be co-funded by the UT Office of Research.

Over the last three years, Stuth and her collaborators have received national awards including the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture’s National Design/Build Award and an honorable mention for the main award given by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. She also received the New Faculty Teaching Award given jointly by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and the American Institute of Architecture Students.

Previous recipients of the Cox Professorship include Nate Sanders, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, and Beauvais Lyons, a professor in the School of Art.