Twenty-Five Years Later, Jennifer Webb Still Believes in Design's 'Ability to Change the World'

Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design

Jennifer Webb is associate professor of interior architecture and design at the U of A, where she's taught since 1999.

Editor's Note: As the U of A strives to become an employer of choice, the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design is highlighting the faculty and staff who help the school excel.

Jennifer Webb, associate professor of interior architecture and design, joined the interior design faculty at the U of A in 1999. The interior design program became part of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design in 2010, and it became the Department of Interior Architecture and Design in July 2022.

Webb began her career in the field almost by accident. She was in her final year of a degree in advertising at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, when she learned about what was commonly called "decorating" but is now known as interior architecture and design.

"I remember walking into that first studio, smelling the air and looking at what the students were working on. It was just so interesting," Webb said.

In what would have been her last year of college, she decided to start a new major.

After finishing what turned into a seven-and-a-half-year process to complete her bachelor's degree, Webb went on to get a master's degree in interior design at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and then a Ph.D. in human environmental sciences at Oklahoma State University. She eventually made her way to the U of A just before the turn of the century. Webb came to the U of A as part of the job search process, and she said she has been happily stuck here ever since.

"Every time I've been ready to move on or to leave, something changed, a new challenge came about that has made me want to stay," Webb said.

During her 25 years with the university, Webb has pursued an active research agenda focused on person-environment fit and investigated the role of privacy in living environments for older adults. She was also instrumental in helping start the Master of Design Studies at the Fay Jones School.

Webb started working with the graduate studies program at the suggestion of Dean Peter MacKeith.

"I researched different degrees and programs. I figured out the process to create a new degree at the university," Webb said. "I had to go to all kinds of people to help me figure it out. So many different people on campus just loaned their expertise. I don't think that I've done everything, not by myself, at all. I've learned everything from the ground up."

Whether it's the graduate studies program or her other specialties, research has been an integral part of Webb's career.

Her research on anticipated living environments for Arkansas residents provided the pilot data for the Arkansas Health and Housing Survey (2006). She was recognized with the Joel Polsky Prize for contributions to the interior design profession for her work on Just Below the Line: Disability, Housing, and Equity in the South, by Korydon H. Smith, with contributions from Webb and Brent T. Williams (University of Arkansas Press, 2010). She has also made contributions to the Universal Design Handbook (McGraw Hill, 2010); a textbook on inclusive design, Diversity and Design: Understanding the Hidden Consequences (Routledge, 2015); and has a book on aesthetics and social justice underway. In 2020, she edited a special issue of the Journal of Interior Design titled "Pushed to the Edge: Marginalization in the Constructed Interior."

Webb said that she is proud of the research she has been engaged in and how it has impacted the community.

"I think the most important thing in the work that I've done — whether it's teaching, research about teaching or design — all of that has the power to improve people's lives. All aspects of my work are geared toward making the environment useful, accessible or beautiful," Webb said.

Webb has taught a wide variety of courses in interior design. She co-developed the interdisciplinary course, Diversity and Design, an Arkansas humanities core course at the U of A.

As a professional interior designer, Webb has worked in corporate and healthcare design. She is an NCIDQ certificate holder and a LEED Accredited Professional. Since 1999, she has served on the Arkansas State Board of Registered Interior Designers as the Southwest chair, and as director of scholarship on the Board of Directors Interior Design Educators Council. She serves as a member of the Journal of Interior Design Board. In 2019, Webb was named a Fellow of the Interior Design Educators Council.

"I'm still excited about the work that I do," Webb said. "I still believe that design has the ability to change the world, and I don't want to ever lose sight of that."

Read the full Q&A with Jennifer Webb.