There are three distinct groups of faculty participating in the program. The core program faculty are those who are able to chair dissertation committees in the PhD in the Built Environment program; the other two groups are faculty who are able to serve on dissertation committees. All faculty may teach courses in the program and will serve as resources for the students. Because the program is college-wide, Built Environment faculty are not listed here by their “home” departments; nor are they simply listed according to one of the three specializations, because many of them will participate in more than one of the three areas. Associated faculty from the rest of the University of Washington are listed by specialization for ease of identification. Detailed information on each faculty member can be found at their individual web pages.
We encourage applicants, especially those who expect to work in a laboratory or research group context, to contact faculty members who appear to share their research interests to ascertain how closely those interests align. A match with our core faculty’s research interests is a key factor in our admissions process. Where it doesn’t appear on their personal faculty pages, contact information for faculty members is available at the University Directory.
Faculty names are linked to their departmental information pages. Please follow those links for further details on individual faculty member’s research interests and contact information.
Narjes Abbasabadi
Ph.D. in Architecture, Technologies of the Built Environment (Architectural and Building Sciences/Technology) from Illinois Institute of Technology
Research interests: sustainable design; computation; building performance simulation; urban building energy modeling; artificial intelligence & machine learning.
Ahmed Abdel Aziz
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia
Research interests: estimating, project controls, quantitative risk analysis, privatized infrastructure, probabilistic estimating and simulation.
Daniel Abramson
Ph.D. in Urban Planning from Tsinghua University
Research interests: developing world cities, Chinese urban community and regional planning and housing and community development.
Arthur Acolin
Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Development from the University of Southern California
Research interests: housing economics, international housing policy, and finance.
Federico (Fred) M. Aguayo
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin
Research interests: evaluating and experimentally characterizing deterioration processes in new and existing cement-based materials, while also developing test methods to predict and enhance their performance in the field.
Marina Alberti
Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research interests: urban ecology and sustainable urban development.
Alex T. Anderson, Program Director
Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania
Research interests: the relationship between architecture and the decorative arts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, everyday life in modern architecture (early 20th century), the notion of ornamentation in 20th century architecture, the development and communication of ideas in architectural representations, and parallels between architecture and cuisine.
Christine Bae
Ph.D. in Environmental Planning from University of Southern California
Research interests: air quality, transportation and the environment, growth management, land use and sprawl, and international planning.
Celina Balderas Guzmán
Ph.D. in Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning from the University of California, Berkeley
Research interests: climate adaptation, maladaptation, regional adaptation planning, sea level rise, coastal wetlands, nature-based solutions, social-ecological systems, stormwater, green infrastructure, environmental data science.
Rachel Berney
Ph.D. in Sustainable Design and Development from the University of California, Berkeley
Research interests: community sustainable design and development in an international context; urban design and planning history and theory with an emphasis on social and environmental factors; and qualitative and quantitative research methods for evaluating the efficacy of urban form, including challenges of cross-cultural research.
Branden Born
Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Wisconsin Madison
Research interests: planning process and policy/decision making, land use, and social justice.
Ann Marie Borys
Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania
Research interests: the built environment as material culture; the relationship of construction, intention, and meaning; professional practice; and architecture for education.
Steven Bourassa
Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania
Research interests: urban housing and land markets and policy, covering a range of topics including housing tenure, residential property valuation, property taxation, housing affordability, low-income housing policy, community land trusts, and public land leasehold.
Christopher Campbell
Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles
Research interests: urban and community studies, community change, social identity, and group formation, cultural sociology (theory and practice), higher education curricular development and assessment.
Manish Chalana
Ph.D. in Planning and Design from the University of Colorado
Research interests: historic and sustainable urban environments, cultural landscapes, multicultural planning, immigrant communities, crime prevention through environmental design.
Gregg Colburn
Ph.D. in Public Affairs, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota
Research interests: housing policy, housing markets, housing affordability, and homelessness. Author of forthcoming book, Homelessness is a Housing Problem (University of California Press).
Amos Darko
Ph.D. in Construction Engineering and Management from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Research interests: sustainability, sustainable built environment, sustainable construction, green building, modular and offsite construction, project management, construction management, building information modeling, artificial intelligence.
Sofia Dermisi
Doctor of Design Studies from the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Research interests: downtown office markets analysis, office building and market sustainability, disaster preparedness and event fallout in the built environment, terrorism and life—safety issues on downtown office buildings and markets.
Carrie Sturts Dossick
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Columbia University
Research interests: application and impact of emerging technologies on the construction process.
Himanshu Grover
Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Sciences from Texas A&M University, College Station
Research interests: hazard mitigation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental policy and planning, land use planning, coastal area planning, geographic information systems, environmental policy analysis, and quantitative research methods.
Nicole Huber
Dr. Des. from the Bauhaus University Weimar
Research interests: sustainable development and emerging visual technologies in a regionalizing and globalizing context.
Ann C. Huppert
Ph.D. in the history of architecture from University of Virginia
Research interests: Architectural history, construction practices in early modern Italy, Renaissance design, architectural representation.
Louisa Iarocci
Ph.D. in the History of Art and Architecture from Boston University
Research interests: architectural history and theory, spatial theory, representation and consumerism.
Mehlika Inanici
Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Michigan
Research interests: lighting design and analysis, building performance simulation, physically-based rendering, and computational photography.
Yong-Woo Kim
Ph.D. in Engineering and Project Management from the University of California, Berkeley
Research interests: Lean project delivery system, sustainable construction, project cost management.
Hyun-Woo Lee
Ph.D. in Engineering and Project Management from the University of California, Berkeley
Research interests: project financing for sustainability and energy efficiency, life cycle cost analysis based on advanced risk assessment, Lean Construction (operation management), construction information technology.
Ken-Yu Lin
Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Research interests: information and knowledge management for project sustainability and construction education.
Lynne Manzo
Ph.D. in Environmental Psychology from City University of New York
Research interests: environmental psychology and people-place interrelationships, especially place attachment and identity, cultural landscapes, the politics of place, community development, social justice, and affordable housing.
Brian McLaren
Ph.D. in Architectural Design, History and Theory from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research interests: Italian colonial architecture, tourism, and politics of representation.
Tomás Méndez Echenagucia
Ph.D. in Architectural and Building Design from the Politecnico di Torino
Research interests: computational geometry for sustainable buildings. Search and optimization methods for architectural, structural, acoustic, and energy efficiency.
Giovanni Migliaccio
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering / Construction Engineering and Project Management from The University of Texas at Austin
Research interests: project delivery systems, collaboration among project stakeholders, infrastructure project management, ergonomics.
Jeffrey Karl Ochsner
Master of Architecture from Rice University
Research interests: 19th and 20th century American architecture, historic preservation, Pacific Northwest design history.
Ken Tadashi Oshima
Ph.D. in Architectural History and Theory from Columbia University
Research interests: the international context of architecture and urbanism in Japan, trans-national architectural history, theory, representation, and design.
Vikram Prakash
Ph.D. in Architecture from Cornell University
Research interests: non-western architecture (particularly South Asian) as expression of culture, postcolonial theory and architecture, Internet and architectural history education.
Mark Purcell
Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Los Angeles
Research interests: neoliberal globalization and urban politics, social/political movements and democratization in cities, political theory, academic discourse and intellectual politics.
Qing Shen
Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from University of California, Berkeley
Research interests: urban economics and metropolitan transportation planning and policy.
Kate Simonen
M.Arch. and M.S. Structural Engineering & Mechanics of Materials from University of California, Berkeley
Research interests: high-performance building design, environmental life-cycle assessment, low-carbon materials, structural optimization.
Tyler Sprague
Ph.D. in the Built Environment from the University of Washington
Research interests: the intersection of architecture and structural engineering, through a variety of methods, throughout history.
Rebecca J. Walter
Ph.D. in Geosciences (Urban Geography) from Florida Atlantic University
Research interests: assisted housing with a focus on expanding affordable housing opportunities for low-income households and building safer communities in distressed neighborhoods.
Ruoniu (Vince) Wang
Ph.D. in in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Florida
Research interests: housing policy, spatial justice and inclusive communities, including their impacts reflected in the built environment, human behaviors, and policy intervention.
Jan Whittington
Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley
Research interests: economic and environmental consequences of large scale infrastructure projects.
Lingzi Wu
Ph.D. in Construction Engineering and Management from the University of Alberta
Research interests: construction simulation, complex system modeling, and data-driven decision support systems in the construction management domain.
Ken Yocom
Ph.D. in the Built Environment from the University of Washington
Research interests: the dynamics of landscape processes and patterns, ‘demystifying’ emerging strategies and technologies for sustainable development.
Heather Burpee
M.Arch., University of Washington
Research Interests: high-performance buildings, energy efficiency, sustainability, health, hospitals
Jennifer Dee
M.Arch., University of Washington
Research Interests: Theory, Design
Keith Harris
Ph.D., University of Washington
Research Interests: critical urban theory and the political, economic, ethical, and aesthetic dimensions of the urbanization process
Dean Heerwagen
M.S., M.Arch., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Interests: Environmental Controls (active and passive); Acoustics
Philip M. Hurvitz
Ph.D., University of Washington
Research Interests: the objective measurement and analysis of the built environment using GIScience methodology; the relationship between physical activity and built environment at fine spatial and temporal scales
Christopher Meek
M.Arch., University of Washington
Research Interests: building energy performance for new construction and retrofits, daylighting, visual comfort, electric lighting, and climate responsive design
Robert Peña
M.Arch., University of California, Berkeley
Research Interests: Sustainable Design and Building Performance Systems
Daniel Winterbottom
M.L.A., Harvard University
Research Interests: Culture and Environment, Place Attachment, Building as Design Expression, Therapeutic Gardens
History and Humanities
Andrea Gevurtz Arai, International Studies
Specialization: Japan and East Asia anthropology and society
Kam Wing Chan, Geography
Specialization: economic development, urbanization, migration, labor market, China, Hong Kong
Laura H. Chrisman, English
Specialization: African and African Diaspora studies; Postcolonial Studies; British imperial literatures
John Findlay, History
Specialization: History of the American West
Jenna M. Grant, Anthropology
Specialization: Medical anthropology; science and technology studies; global health; visual anthropology; medical imaging; malaria; Southeast Asia studies; Cambodia
Raymond Jonas, History
Specialization: French history; European history; the practice of historical writing; politics, culture, and Society in modern Europe; ritual, art, architecture in political culture
Peter V. Lape, Anthropology
Specialization: tropical island land use and agriculture, paleoclimates, warfare, archaeology and history, religious change; Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific
Margaret Pugh O’Mara, History
Specialization: U.S. politics and policy, urban and environmental history, U.S. West
Vicente L. Rafael, History
Specialization: colonialisms and nationalisms, Southeast Asia, the Philippines, Filipino
Nancy Rivenburgh, Communications
Specialization: international communications; the role of media in international and intercultural relations
Laurie J. Sears, History
Specialization: Southeast Asian social and cultural history
Jenny Hsin-Chun Tsai, Nursing
Specialization: Immigrant health, community mental health, cross-cultural inquiries, critical theory
James Tweedie, Cinema and Media Studies
Specialization: film studies, contemporary European and Chinese cinema, cinematic modernism, Globalization
Marek Wieczorek, Art History
Specialization: modern European art, Mondrian and De Stijl, critical theory
Sustainable Systems and Prototypes
Steve Burges, Civil Engineering
Specialization: surface and ground water hydrology, water resource systems analysis and design
Debra Cherry, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences – Public Health
Specialization: occupational and environmental medicine residency training for physicians, children’s environmental health, cancer prevention and control
Shannon C. Cram, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (Bothell)
Specialization: environmental and health justice, science and technology studies, critical geography, nuclear studies
William Daniell, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences – Public Health
Specialization: noise-induced hearing loss; long-term disability associated with carpal tunnel syndrome; chemically related illness, especially neuropyschological sequelae of solvent and pesticide exposure, and multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome
Indroneil Ganguly, Environmentaland Forest Sciences
Specialization: forest products marketing, international trade of wood products, forest economics, environmental economics, life-cycle assessment, environmental assessment of biofuels
Jennifer L. Hoffman, Education
Specialization: equity studies, higher education, intercollegiate athletics
Peter H. Kahn, Psychology
Specialization: Moral development; developmental psychology and the human relationship with nature.
Daniel Sadi Kirschen, Electrical Engineering
Specialization: energy
David Layton, Public Policy and Governance
Specialization: environmental and natural resource economics and policy, non-market valuation, discrete choice econometrics
Karen T. Litfin, Political Science
Specialization: international environmental politics, globalization processes, technology and politics
Celia Lowe, Anthropology
Specialization: anthropology of reason, biosecurity, post-colonial theory, science studies, nationalism, identity; Southeast Asia, Indonesia
Ludmila M. Moskal, Environmental and Forest Sciences
Specialization: Remote sensing; Biospatial analysis
Tim Nyerges, Geography
Specialization: GIS, spatial decision support, urban, transportation, environment, groupware
Ramulu Mamidala, Mechanical Engineering
Specialization: manufacturing processes, production engineering, applied mechanics, fatigue and fracture mechanics
Stephen T. Muench, Civil And Environmental Engineering
Specialization: transportation construction, construction information, engineering training & education, pavements
Charles A Peck, Education
Specialization: inclusion of children with disabilities in regular classrooms, program development in teacher education
Daniela K. Rosner, Human Centered Design and Engineering
Specialization: critical design, craft/DIY/hacking, human-computer interaction (HCI), science and technology studies
Edmund Seto, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
Specialization: development and application of new exposure assessment models and technologies
Anne Taufen, Urban Studies (Tacoma)
Specialization: urban governance, collaborative spatial planning, urban recreation, place attachment, and social-ecological equity
Kristiina Vogt, Environmental and Forest Sciences
Specialization: Decision support systems, human landscapes, linking social-natural sciences, energy technologies
Bo Zhao, Geography
Specialization” Big Data Geographic Information Systems Geovisualization Mapping Science and Technology Social Media Cartography Misinformation
Technology and Project Design/Delivery
Cynthia Atman, Human Centered Design and Engineering
Specialization: engineering design learning, students as emerging engineering professionals, assessment of engineering learning and the use of education research results in the classroom
Ashis G. Banerjee, Industrial and Systems Engineering
Specialization: mobile robot control, automated robotic manipulation of biological objects, human robot collaboration, digital manufacturing, dynamics modeling and simulation, Predictive Data Analytics
Philip L. Bell, Education
Specialization: cognition and learning, science education, argumentation, design of learning technologies
Youngjun Choe, Industrial and Systems Engineering
Specialization: computational statistics, stochastic simulation, quality and reliability engineering
Brian L. Curless, Computer Science and Engineering
Specialization: computer graphics, 3D scanning, reconstruction, rendering
Batya Friedman, Information School
Specialization: value-sensitive design, social-cognitive and cultural aspects of information systems, HCI
Thomas A. Furness, Industrial Engineering
Specialization: display systems engineering, human factors, computer graphics, virtual reality, human computer interface design. Dr. Furness’s faculty page.
Gary Hsieh, Human Centered Design and Engineering
Specialization: human-computer interaction, social computing, social media, tailoring motivators: persuasive technology
Richard Karpen, Digital Arts and Experimental Media
Specialization: music composition, computer music, digital arts
Beth E. Kolko, Human Centered Design and Engineering
Specialization: computer-mediated communication, virtual worlds, cross-cultural issues in information and communication technologies
David M. Levy, Information School
Specialization: digital documents and libraries; information and the quality of life
Shan Liu, Industrial and Systems Engineering
Specialization: optimization health systems and policy modeling medical decision making engineering applications in healthcare
Stephen T. Muench, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Specialization: Transportation construction; Construction information; Engineering training & education; Pavements
David Ribes, Human Centered Design and Engineering
Specialization: science and technology studies, information studies, cyberinfrastructures
Duane W. Storti, Mechanical Engineering
Specialization: nonlinear dynamics and vibrations, dynamical systems, perturbations and bifurcations
Steve Tanimoto, Computer Science and Engineering
Specialization: image analysis, artificial intelligence, computer graphics, educational technology
Questions about the PhD in the Built Environment? Email bephd@uw.edu.