College of Human Sciences Interior Design graduate Emily Hatcher earns 2024 IIDA Student of the Year national award

College of Human Sciences Interior Design 2024 graduate Emily Hatcher was recently honored with the 2024 International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Student of the Year Award at a “Meet Us On Monday: IIDA’s Celebration on the Stairs” on June 10 at The Grand Stair and Marshall’s Landing during NeoCon.

In an interview with IIDA, Hatcher said growing up, her passion for art and creativity led her to pursue a career as an interior designer. Hatcher believes interior design is an important tool to inspire emotion. “It creates the feeling of the consumer,” Hatcher explained. Designers “can create joy, sadness, creativity, productivity, and every other emotion imaginable. Designers have one of the most powerful jobs in the world.”

The IIDA Student of the Year Award recognizes an IIDA Student Member who has significantly impacted their school’s interior design program through outstanding leadership, insight and involvement. The award includes a $5,000 cash prize, sponsored by OFS, and a complimentary one-year IIDA membership.

In addition to receiving her prestigious award, Hatcher was able to make valuable connections she may use in her career moving forward.

“I was able to visit with so many people— some that I knew previously and some that I was hoping to meet,” Hatcher said. I was also invited by a few different companies to tour their showroom, attend events and be introduced to their connections. A great example of this was my time with Mannington Commercial. I met up with Richard French, president of Mannington Commercial. He is an Auburn graduate, so he was more than willing to walk me around, introduce me to meaningful connections and invite me to all sorts of different festivities that they were hosting. Before I met anybody, French and the rest of the Mannington team asked about where I was located and what sector of design that I was interested in. The whole experience was the most valuable experience that I had from my time at Auburn. I made so many connections and had such a fun time.”