Photo Credit: UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences

Karen Tinsley, a faculty member in the University of Georgia's College of Family and Consumer Sciences, died Tuesday after being hit by a truck while riding her bike in Oconee County.

An F-150 struck and killed Tinsley, an avid cyclist, on Astondale Road near Bishop Tuesday night, according to the Oconee Enterprise.

Tinsley, 45, is a native of Augusta who moved to Athens in 2002 and earned her master's degree and doctorate from UGA. The Watkinsville resident was recently promoted to senior public service associate at FACS.

“We are deeply saddened by this news,” Sheri Worthy, head of the FACS Department of Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics, said in an obituary posted on the UGA website. “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.”

The driver, Richard Poulnott, 55, of Watkinsville, was following too close and did not provide Tinsley the three feet of clearance required by state law, the Georgia State Patrol told the Athens Banner-Herald. Charges are pending.

Among Tinsley's survivors are her partner, Art Snow, who recently retired from the UGA Department of Economics.