Bio

Thom Houser chairs the interior design program in the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, Athens, and periodically spends summers teaching exhibition and furniture design at the UGA campus in Cortona, Italy. He has a masters in design from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and an undergraduate degree in music education from Maryville College, Maryville, TN. His decade of full-time professional design experience focused on hospitality, medical, and office projects. As an early adopter of computer technology he developed numerous apps for AutoCAD and Autodesk Architecture. Since 2006, he has travelled to the Middle East over 20 times to serve as a licensing and accreditation reviewer for the Commission for Academic Accreditation, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, United Arab Emirates. His recent creative scholarship centers on making installation art melding experiences in art, design, music, photography, poetry, technology and cross-cultural encounters. He has presented at national conferences across the United States and in Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. His recent photo forays have occurred in those countries and in India, Morocco, Oman, and Turkey.

Professional Journey
in chronological order



Childhood

College


US Army


Band Director

Graduate School


Professional Design





Academia



Creative Passions

Lockland (greater Cincinnati), Ohio

Maryville College, Maryville, Tennessee
Bachelor of Arts, Music Education

Third Army Band, Atlanta, Georgia
76th Army Band, Worms, Germany

Austin East High School, Knoxville, Tennessee

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
Master of Science, Interior Design

Earl Swensson Associates, Nashville, Tennessee, Interior Designer
Gresham, Smith & Partners, Nashville, TN, Design Team Leader
Earl Swensson Associates, Nashville, TN, Director of Interiors
McQuiddy Office Designers, Nashville, TN, Director of Design
Freelance Designer, Knoxville, TN, and Athens, GA (current)

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, Assistant Professor
University of Georgia, Study Abroad Program, Cortona, Italy
University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, Professor (current)

Designing architecturally interesting spaces 
Creating site-specific art installations
Harvesting and exploring images
Synthesizing new experiences