Biography

Kari Babski-Reeves is currently the Associate Vice President for Research for the University of Tennessee System. She earned her BS, MS and PhD from Mississippi State University (MSU) in Industrial Engineering (IE) in 1995, 1998 and 2000 respectively. Her primary research area is human factors and ergonomics (HFE), specifically in occupational injury prevention and control. Her research, totaling over $15M, has been funded by entities such as NIOSH, DOD, DHS, DOE, FAA, and multiple industry partners (FedEx, Nissan, Hyundai, etc.). She has published her research in Human Factors, Applied Ergonomics, IIE Transactions in Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors, and Ergonomics, among others. Prior to joining UT, she was a faculty member in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech and the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at MSU. Kari went on to assume the roles of Associate Dean (AD) for the Bagley College of Engineering (BCoE) at MSU (2015-2024) and Department Head (DH) for the Department of Industrial Systems Engineering (ISE) at MSU (2019-2024). Kari is a Certified Professional Ergonomist, has served as President of and as a director on the Board of Certified Professional Ergonomists, served as a member of the Musculoskeletal Sector for the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA), has previously been a member of the NIOSH review panel and continues to serve on multiple panels as an ad hoc member and chair, along with several other professional and leadership roles.