A recently returned Bowling Green native, Kathleen Dennis has filed petitions for Bowling Green City Council’s Third Ward. If elected, she said she will bring a perspective to City Council grounded in her early life experience growing up in Bowling Green, enhanced by her career in science and 10 years of conservation and community advocacy in Nashville and her recent work with Bowling Green Save Our Neighborhoods Group (BG SONG).
Dennis entered college at Bowling Green State University before completing her undergraduate degree at the University of California, San Diego, where she met her husband, Joseph Solus. They have two sons Daniel and Liam.
She received her doctorate in neuroscience from George Washington University and worked as an academic research scientist for 40 years, culminating in a position as research faculty in the School of Medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. During her career, Dennis made contributions to understanding brain function and the role a healthy cohesive environment plays in good mental health and wellbeing.
Dennis began her community and environmental advocacy as a volunteer with a southeast Nashville conservation group called the Mill Creek Watershed Association (MCWA). In 2018 she stepped up as director of the MCWA and under her direction the organization crafted a river restoration approach that integrated community health and wellbeing into neighborhood revitalization and development. The MCWA continues to work in collaboration with local developers and community leaders to integrate healthy approaches to neighborhood development.
Since her return to Bowling Green, Dennis has participated in local efforts to support community growth. She joined other residents to advocate for updates in the zoning code that preserve the nature of existing neighborhoods while providing space for new development and mixed-use communities. Subsequently, she and a core group of residents founded BG SONG, Bowling Green’s first Community Development Corporation, dedicated to building strong neighborhoods for everyone.
Dennis welcomes Third Ward community members and residents throughout Bowling Green to reach out to her and share their own visions of a resilient and revitalized Bowling Green. She can be contacted at kdennisbgcc25@gmail.com.
