Fugate appointed as KY Housing Corporation-Groves Endowed Professor
Jeff Fugate, associate professor of extension in the University of Kentucky School of Architecture, has been named the Kentucky Housing Corporation-John Russell Groves Endowed Professor of Housing. The professorship was established in 2002 to promote research into affordable housing design and delivery.
“Sufficient, safe and attainable housing is going to be at the forefront of policy and research discussions for the foreseeable future,” Fugate said. “There are no easy answers when it comes to meeting the current challenges. We’ll need every tool at our disposal to address the twenty-year backlog in homes that we have failed to build in the Commonwealth and nationally.”
Fugate says he’s excited about the possibilities ahead. He is on the leadership team that oversees the recently launched Sustainable Futures Design Lab, which is part of UK Innovate’s TRUST Hub. He also co-leads Studio Appalachia with Rebekah Radtke, associate professor in the UK School of Interiors and Baylen Campbell, director of community impact at Invest Appalachia. Since 2023, Fugate has advised Russell: A Place of Promise, a community group based in Louisville's Russell neighborhood, on the formation of the Russell Community Land Trust in the west end of Louisville. He also recently joined the board of Lexington Habitat for Humanity.
For over two decades, Fugate’s career has been focused on housing and community development. Upon graduating from UK's architecture program in 1999, Fugate moved to Washington, D.C. to take an AmeriCorps position with D.C. Habitat for Humanity, where he trained and supervised volunteer construction crews. While pursuing his graduate degree at MIT, he gravitated towards coursework that prioritized housing and economic development. Since, he has worked for multiple community development organizations in Massachusetts and Kentucky. Fugate returned to Lexington in 2010 and found himself working with former Mayor Jim Gray on many of his signature projects, including the creation of an Affordable Housing Fund. Fugate was a founding board member of the Fund and recently completed his final term, ten years after first being appointed.
"Kentucky Housing Corporation is thrilled to see this endowed professorship filled with an experienced practitioner,” said Wendy Smith, Kentucky Housing Corporation's deputy executive director of housing programs. “Kentucky desperately needs to accelerate its housing supply. We look forward to professor Fugate cultivating future innovators in housing design and development."
The professorship is named in honor of the late Major General John Russell "Russ" Groves, who served as an assistant dean in the College more than two decades ago. In addition to his teaching duties, he had a well-decorated military career, a private architecture practice, a loving family and a passion for community service. Groves was known for his unwavering dedication to improving housing accessibility and quality across the state with his service as both Commissioner (1980-81) and Deputy Commissioner (1978-79) of the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction. His work left an indelible mark on Kentucky's housing landscape, making this professorship a fitting tribute to his legacy.