Reneé is an Endowed Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of the Communication Design program at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. She is a graduate of the Graphic Design program at the University of Cincinnati in 2002 and received her Master’s from North Carolina State in 2008.
Reneé has been teaching typography, exhibition design, graphic design in the Communication Design program for the last fourteen years. Her students have won countless awards from Graphics, Graphic Design USA, and Creative Communication Awards Design competitions over the years.
Her research focuses on developing digital and physical tools that seek to address our society’s literacy problem. Currently, she has a company that sells her reading tool called See Words Reading®. Renee came up with See Words because a friend’s child attributed his reading struggle to the letters’ layout on a page. Reneé, as a designer, felt that she could help with the problem. Renee is a Cincy Innovates winner and has been acknowledged as a Rising Tech star by ComSpark, awarded by the Business Courier Best Software of the Year, and the University of Cincinnati Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year. Recently, a font her team has designed called SeeType just won an STA award, and she has given a TEDx talk on Eradication Literacy Through the Power of a Font. Additionally, she is working in a collaborative research team awarded a grant from the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to develop a tool to help correct speech problems in children.
Renee has also been named a winner in the Graphic Design USA Design competition for the poster she developed for the AIGA to promote voting
Please tell us a little bit about your family.
I am the daughter of an engineer and a teacher. I have an older sister who is a teacher in North College Hill and a younger brother who is a news reporter for Channel 9. My great-grandmother, Louise Shropshire, wrote the original version of the “We Shall Overcome” civil rights song right here in Cincinnati. My great-grandfather, Robert Shropshire, started one of the oldest black-owned businesses in Cincinnati, currently being run by my cousin.
Please tell us about your current, past, or future career. What do you love most about what you do?
I am a professor, designer, and entrepreneur. I love using design and research to help develop tools to give equitable access to reading to struggling readers of any age. I love that I can help the new generation of designers hit their potential.
What are a couple of your favorite restaurants in our community?
Nicola’s, La Jaiba, Gomez
How long have you lived or worked in our community?
I am a Cincinnati Native, I have lived in other cities but Cincinnati has been my home for most of my life
If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
I would go to Hawaii for a vacation
What is one of your favorite movies? TV shows?
Love and Basketball and Good Times
What advice would you give to people?
Putting God first is important and valuable for peace and success. Also Don’t be afraid to fail. I love the quote: “Success happens when you move from failure to failure without a lack of enthusiasm.”
What is something on your bucket list?
To visit Santorini, Greece
What is your go to band when you cant decide what to listen to?
The Walls Group
What current or former local business makes you the most nostalgic about our community?
Johnny’s Toys and the birthday castle
If you could choose anyone that is alive today and not a relative; with whom would you love to have lunch? Why? And where locally would you meet for this lunch?
Michelle Obama so that I can speak with her about life and leadership. We would go to Nicola’s
What is your favorite thing or something unique about our community?
I love going to Findlay Market and buy Hot Metts and other local foods.
Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
I see myself continuing to teach and developing new technologies for education
What is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
I can’t think of anything
What is the most beautiful place you have ever been?
Hawaii
Favorite month? favorite holiday? and best single day on the calendar?
February, July 4, Friday the 13th
What would you rate a 10 out of 10?
My dad’s bar-b-que
Who inspires you to be better?
My parents
What is one or two of your favorite smells?
Eucalyptus Mint and Bacon
Finally, what 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
Love, Rest, Encouragement
See Renee’s TEDx Talk HERE
Read more about See Words Reading HERE.
Sincere thanks to Renee for her passion and contribution to our community!
