School of Planning, Design and Construction

It’s an exciting time for the world of landscape architecture as the economy is strong and the profession continues to get involved in important projects all
over the world. People are using outdoor spaces now more than ever during work and recreation, and landscape architects continue to develop spaces that enrich quality of life and enhance our standards of living.

As the incoming President of the MSU LAAAB, I am encouraged by the students I have met and I am impressed by their hunger for knowledge and change. They want to make a difference in the world, and they see our profession as a way to make not only physical changes to our environment but social ones as well.

I travel often for work, and it is always fun to meet MSU grads in offices large and small doing many different types of great work. Spartan landscape
architects are a proud and loyal group, and with today’s social media and ease of communication, there is no reason we cannot increase alumni support for the students and share with those who would like to know more about what is currently happening at MSU.

I look forward this year to helping our board focus on a few initiatives that we hope will help MSU and benefit the profession.

One area we are working on is increasing student enrollment through campus outreach with the LA Club, as well as by working on a kit of products that landscape architects can use for high school career days. Even though we are one of the fastest growing design professions, we still do not get enough
publicity and the recognition we deserve, so we need to be tireless in our push for more students. Increasing enrollment is an important factor in the success of all university programs.

We also want to continue our Speaker Series. These events bring alumni and students together for social interaction along with continued education on a multitude of topics presented by design professionals from around the country. This once-a-year event has the potential to be an even bigger success than we have seen so far. Many hours of hard work and dollars have been donated by committed alumni to create these special opportunities.

Finally, I look forward to stronger alumni relations that increase the number of supporters who can participate with the program on many levels, depending
on their areas of interest. Whether participation occurs for social interaction, continual learning, recruitment, financial support, or student mentorship, just
getting involved to help us create the best landscape architecture program in the country is an exciting journey in which to partake.