Rate My Professor Kristi Julian

Dr. Kristi Julian serves as Professor of Interior Architecture and Program Director in the Department of Human Sciences within the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences at Middle Tennessee State University, a position she has held since 2019. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Technology from Auburn University in 2010, along with a master’s degree in interior design pursued while serving as adjunct faculty at Virginia College and Jefferson State. Prior to joining MTSU, Julian achieved tenure and promotion in Interior Architecture at East Tennessee State University and began her academic career as an instructor at the University of Montevallo in 2005. Her extensive professional experience encompasses facilities design and construction, project management in healthcare, office, and hospitality at Environlines and Encore Interiors, architectural representation at Seabrook and Patton Wallcovering, and high-end residential design at Hawkins Israel and Briarcliff Interiors. She is a registered licensed interior designer in Alabama and holds certifications including NCIDQ, LEED AP BD+C, EDAC, WELL AP, and CPTED.

Julian is a prominent leader in interior design education accreditation, contributing to the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) as a site visitor since 2013, site visit team chair, and current chair of the Program Consultants Committee, where she has conducted 21 site visits and presented at workshops. In recognition of her exceptional volunteer service, she received the 2022 Keith Hooks Volunteer Excellence Award from CIDA. She co-founded the ProGlobe project in 2014, initially as the German-American Sustainability Project, expanding it to include collaborators from Germany, China, Portugal, Canada, and the United States to foster global awareness of environmental and social sustainability through digital project-based learning in interior architecture. The project earned the 2022 European Language Label for Innovative Initiatives in Language Teaching and Learning and a $450,000 grant from the German Academic Exchange Service. Her research interests center on virtual exchanges and interdisciplinary collaboration in design education, reflected in publications such as 'The multi-disciplinary approach to an interdisciplinary virtual exchange' (2021) and contributions to international conferences on virtual collaboration. Additional roles include MTSU Faculty Senator, board member of the Consortium of Virtual Exchange, advisory board member for the American University of Kurdistan design program, and advisory council member for Rutherford County Schools' Architecture and Construction Career and Technology Education.