Karen A. Phillips, UGA alumna, will open the College of Environment and Design lecture series Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. in the Miller Learning Center, Room 248.
Her lecture, “Making a Difference in the Environment,” will focus on the professional practice of city planning, urban revitalization and cultural preservation in landscape architecture. The event is free and open to the public.
A commissioner on the New York City Planning Commission and founder, president and CEO of the Abyssinian Development Corp., Phillips has dedicated her career to transforming economically distressed urban areas, redeveloping the physical environment and addressing issues of human needs and quality of life.
Phillips earned a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from UGA in 1975 and a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1982.
She is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and has received numerous professional accolades for her leadership role in Harlem’s “Second Renaissance.”
Phillips was appointed by the governor of New York to serve on that state’s mortgage agency and housing finance agency. She is a trustee of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and serves on the boards of directors of several New York City nonprofits. She also has served as the president/CEO of Black Equity Alliance.
In addition to her public service, Phillips provides professional consulting services in community planning, development and civic engagement to planning firms, real estate developers, community organizations and public agencies.
A reception will follow the lecture in the Founders House at 325 S. Lumpkin St.v
