School of Planning, Design and Construction

Cheryl F. Zuellig, MSU landscape architecture class of 1984, retired this year. Cheryl’s 40-plus year career reflects the profound impact landscape architecture has on people, communities, and the environment. A nationally respected leader in the profession, she has dedicated her work to restoring natural systems, expanding equitable access to public spaces, and designing places that supported physical, mental, and social well-being.

As a Director of Sites at SmithGroup, Cheryl directed a team of more than 100 landscape architects and civil engineers firm-wide, guiding initiatives that delivered innovative, sustainable, and resilient solutions for communities. An “unabashed generalist,” she worked across scales and typologies, from greenways and streetscapes to public parks, historic landscapes, and healthcare and institutional campuses. Her strength lay in her ability to balance design and technical expertise with empathy, ensuring that each project responded meaningfully to both its ecological context and the people it served.

Public service was central to Cheryl’s design philosophy. She often described landscape architects as “a pen for the people,” giving form and voice to community priorities. This belief guided many of her most influential projects, especially with her work for Metroparks Toledo. Her leadership on the Middlegrounds Metropark Master Plan helped transform a forgotten riverfront rail yard into a 28-acre urban waterfront park that reconnected residents with the Maumee River. Designed to evoke historic wetlands and prairies, the park integrated walking paths, fishing platforms, and immersive educational features, while addressing longstanding inequities in access to quality open space.  The project’s popularity exceeded expectations, dramatically increasing visitation and reshaping Metroparks Toledo’s approach to urban parks. Its success helped inspire a citywide commitment to placing a park within five miles of every resident.

Cheryl also made a significant impact in healthcare design, where she championed the role of nature in healing. As lead landscape architect for the Veterans Medical Center in Louisville, Kentucky, she conceived The Journey, a linear garden inspired by military service ribbons that wove through the site and into the building itself. The landscape honored veterans’ experiences through a sequence of reflective spaces while providing accessible outdoor environments for patients, families, and staff. Rooftop healing gardens—including dedicated spaces for mental health and substance abuse treatment—reinforced research-backed connections between nature and improved health outcomes. Serving approximately 40,000 veterans in the region, the project stood as a model for integrating landscape architecture into holistic healthcare design.

Cheryl spent the latter part of her career working with General Motors Corporation, and most notably at the Global Technical Campus in Warren, Michigan where she began a 13-year journey helping guide the site development and environmental infrastructure of the 700-acre campus.  When the campus was first planned and developed by Eero Saarinen and Thomas Church in the early 1950’s, GM branded the research and design campus with the theme of “Where Today Meets Tomorrow” to reflect the new innovative and forward-thinking campus.  Cheryl and her team followed the continuation of that historic GM mantra from master plan efforts to design and implementation, by influencing leadership to include sustainable elements for new projects during the $2 billion campus transformation.  Of the most significant, the new state of the art 300,000 GSF Design Center, which honors the historic Saarinen and Church principals, pushed the traditional campus landscape from monoculture to one of greater diversity with a 1,200 foot long, 13,000 SF bioswale that perfectly fit into the campus tapestry and historic context.

In large-scale planning efforts, Cheryl’s commitment to equity was especially evident. She led Reimagine Washtenaw, a comprehensive vision to transform a congested, auto-centric corridor in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Through extensive community engagement, Cheryl worked with residents, workers, transit agencies, and municipal leaders to prioritize human needs over vehicle speed. The resulting plan emphasized safer, more sustainable transportation options, improved access for those without cars, and redevelopment strategies that reflected the diverse communities along the corridor.

Beyond her professional achievements, Cheryl remains deeply connected to her alma mater and mentoring the next generation of designers. She served as president of the Michigan State University Landscape Architecture Alumni Advisory Board, supporting students and alumni while advocating for a profession rooted in environmental stewardship, social justice, and community engagement.

Across decades of practice, Cheryl’s work consistently demonstrates how landscape architecture can steward the environment while strengthening the communities it serves. Her career stands as a powerful example of design in service of people, place, and the public good.  

We wish Cheryl the best in her retirement!