KNOXVILLE – George Dodds, associate professor in the University of Tennessee’s College of Architecture and Design, was invited to join the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Academy of Distinguished Professors, a newly established group of prominent architecture educators.
Invitation to the academy is extended only to those who have received ACSA’s highest honors: the Distinguished Professorship and the ACSA Topaz Medallion.
Dodds was named an ACSA Distinguished Professor in 2007, an honor awarded annually to no more than five architecture faculty in the United States and Canada. Next to its Topaz Medal, the ACSA Distinguished Professorship is the highest recognition that the ACSA awards faculty.
The Academy of Distinguished Professors was established to advance the work in architecture academia and assist in the search for new architecture knowledge. Envisioned as a parallel to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows, an organization that recognizes architects for their professional contributions, the academy will be charged with identifying and disseminating the best practices in architecture teaching, scholarship and service.
“For years only those in the profession were recognized, and that was by the AIA,” said John McRae, dean of the College of Architecture and Design. “I’m excited that an organization now exists to honor those in architecture academia in a similar manner. It is truly an honor that one of our faculty members is part of this prestigious inaugural group.”
The first official meeting of the academy will be held this weekend in Houston at the 96th ACSA Annual Meeting.
Dodds also is the executive editor of the Journal of Architectural Education (JAE), published quarterly by the ACSA. The JAE is the only blind peer-reviewed architectural journal in the United States and the oldest in the world.
In addition to his ACSA honors, Dodds is the University of Tennessee’s James R. Cox Professor for 2006-09. Established in 2002 through a generous donation from Knoxville-native, James R. Cox, the professorship is awarded to faculty members who have shown dedicated service to teaching, the university, the community and their profession and whose scholarly work is in the donor’s areas of interest: the arts and the outdoors. Nominated by the dean and appointed by the Chancellor’s Office, Dodds was the only recipient of the James R. Cox Professorship in 2006.
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Contacts:
George Dodds, (865) 974-3266, gdodds@utk.edu
Kristi Hintz, (865) 974-3993, khintz@utk.edu