School of Planning, Design and Construction

It is my absolute pleasure to report that the celebration of our Landscape Architecture (LA) Program’s 125th anniversary is well underway. Please mark your calendar and plan to join the celebration, October 6th on campus. Final details of the event will come this summer. Many thanks are owed to several members of the Landscape Architecture Alumni and Advisory Board (LAAAB) for their energy and enthusiasm in this endeavor. We expect to attract many alumni and friends, and I very much look forward to our celebration this fall.

I want to use this opportunity to thank many of you who reached out to the school in February when our university faced unimaginable difficulties after the senseless mass shootings that killed three students and injured several. Your warmth and support was immeasurable. Our MSU community was tested and tried but we continue to come together, stronger and better.

With private funding support, we have been able to sponsor our LA students’ attendance at state and national ASLA conferences. As experienced in San Francisco during the 2022 ASLA conference, our students exhibited Spartan spirit and impressed all attendees during the alumni reception event.

With the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, the school has returned to the use of its 2020-24 Strategic Plan to guide its direction. We will resume our implementation of the five strategic directions, including 1) unified school identity, 2) teaching, learning and students, 3) funding models, 4) administration and resource management, and 5) research and interdisciplinary efforts. We will monitor the progress of each strategic direction and adjust our tactics accordingly.

New leadership now guides the school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) committee: Deyanira Nevarez Martinez and Holly Madill. They will continue the efforts of former co-chairs, Noah Durst and Mary Beth Graebert, to implement the DEI strategic plan adopted last year. 

This year, our school launched its first outstanding faculty award and outstanding student leader award. I am pleased to report that our school’s Student Advisory Council members voted to award LA Professor Yun Cao the Outstanding Instructor Award, and former ASLA Club president, Angel Cruz, received the Outstanding Student Leader Award. Both awardees were honored during the school’s inaugural recognition ceremony in April.

One of my greatest joys as school director is seeing the success of our students and faculty. Our LAAAB has been instrumental for the LA program’s success. I am grateful for the board’s support.

Lastly, I want to take this opportunity to announce that I have decided to pursue an incredible career opportunity as Dean of the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington, effective August 1st. Thus, this is my last update as SPDC School Director. Please accept my sincere gratitude for all that you do for both the program and the school.