Memorial service planned for UGA Professor killed in bicycle accident

A memorial service will be held for Dr. Karen Tinsley on Monday, April 9th at 2pm in the Chapel on North Campus. A reception will follow at the Georgia Center in Mahler Hall beginning at 4pm.

Parking is available at the North Campus Deck for the Chapel and South Campus Deck for the Georgia Center.

From the University of Georgia…

Karen Tinsley, a faculty member in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, died in a bicycle-vehicle accident on Tuesday in Oconee County.

Tinsley, who was recently promoted to Senior Public Service Associate in the FACS department of financial planning, housing and consumer economics, served as the director for the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing program and as director of the UGA Housing and Demographics Research Center.

“We are deeply saddened by this news,” FHCE department head Sheri Worthy said. “Karen was an invaluable member of our college and was admired across the state for her tireless efforts toward improving housing conditions in Georgia. Her impact was felt by countless communities in Georgia as well as by our students, and she was a model representative of our college’s mission of improving the lives of people in our state.”

Tinsley came to UGA in 2002 as a research coordinator. In 2017, she received the Housing Impact Award from the Housing Education and Research Association for her significant contributions to the field of housing through focused research, teaching and outreach initiatives.

The GICH program she directed has facilitated progress toward housing stability for 71 communities in Georgia since its inception in 2004.

“Karen was a dear friend and colleague,” said Steve Dempsey, Associate Vice President for the UGA Office of Public Service and Outreach. “Although she never enjoyed the attention and stayed behind the scenes, she was the champion for housing at FACS and UGA. Karen’s dedication to GICH and the HDRC was unwavering. She was the glue and the engine that made GICH such a successful program with such a diverse partnership touching communities throughout the state. She will be sorely missed by the housing community and UGA.”

Tinsley received her bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and earned both her master’s and doctorate degrees in economics from UGA.

Among her many accolades, Tinsley was a Service Learning Fellow and was a graduate of the Vivian H. Fisher Public Service and Outreach Leadership Academy at UGA.

Tinsley, 45, was born in Augusta, Ga., but grew up in Syracuse, N.Y.

She is survived by her father, Roger and his wife Janet, of Skaneateles, N.Y.; her mother, Judy McPeak and her husband Bill, of Hull, Mass.; and her sister, Susan Schumer and her husband Evan of Wellesley, Mass., and their children, Jessica and Matthew; along with partner Art Snow, who recently retired following a 31-year career with the UGA Department of Economics.