Congratulations to Travis Kraus on his well-earned promotion to full professor of practice in the School of Planning and Public Affairs (SPPA). Since joining SPPA in 2019 as an associate professor and director of the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC), Travis has made a lasting impact on students, communities, and the university.
Prior to officially joining SPPA, Travis led IISC for three years while it was housed in the Office of the Provost, and played a key role in successfully transition the program to the Graduate College. Since then, he has led or supported over 300 community engagement projects, partnering with 23 departments on campus, helping more than 60 communities across Iowa address local challenges and opportunities.
Under his leadership, IISC has been recognized nationally as a model for effective community engagement and earned the 2025 Excellence in Community-Engaged Partnership Award from Campus Compact, the largest national coalition of colleges and universities dedicated to community engagement.
Travis teaches a graduate course each spring semester focused on creative community development and serves as the primary instructor for SPPA’s capstone courses for both the urban and regional planning and public affairs masters programs. Capstone projects completed by SPPA students and advised by Travis, with support from other SPPA faculty, earned the Iowa American Planning Association’s (APA) Exemplary Student Project Award in 2021, 2023, and 2024.
He is also currently part of an interdisciplinary team that has been awarded a $6 million National Science Foundation grant to conduct "data advanced research and education to improve weather intelligence and localized climate change assessment and resilience in agricultural-based communities.”
Travis’s dedication to service has been recognized at both the university and national levels. He recently received the prestigious University of Iowa Michael J. Brody Award for Faculty Excellence in Service, as well as the 2021 Presidents' Civic Engagement Leadership Award from the Iowa and Minnesota Campus Compact (IAMNCC).
Within SPPA, Travis has provided service as a member of the awards committee, chair of the DEO search committee, and capstone committee. Beyond SPPA, he is the Graduate College representative to the University of Iowa Center for Advancement’s Alumni Leadership Council, a member of Greater Iowa City’s Community Development Council, treasurer for local arts non-profit Public Space One, and a board member of the Educational Partnerships for Innovation in Communities network (EPIC-N), an international network of higher education institutions bridging the gap between education and real-world challenges.