Partnership for equity and inclusion in design and planning schools welcomes a second cohort of early career fellows

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 1, 2022

Contact: Thaïsa  Way
Phone: 202 339 6461
Email: wayt01@doaks.org
Website: www.deansequityandinclusioninitiative.com

Partnership for equity and inclusion in design and planning schools welcomes a second cohort of early career fellows!

The Dean’s Equity and Inclusion Initiative, a partnership of now over two dozen U.S. schools and colleges of architecture, landscape architecture, planning, preservation, and design, welcomes a second cohort of 17 early career faculty to the scholarly development program. This partnership works collectively to nurture a diverse population of emerging scholars focused on teaching and researching built and constructed environments to advance socio-ecological and spatial justice, equity, and inclusion.

Launched in Summer 2021, the cornerstone of the initiative is cohort-based fellowship program supporting early career faculty in the academy who are significant contributors to the pursuit of equity and inclusion in/through the built environment. Fellows participate in a two-year cohort, including two summer institutes and academic year-round professional development workshops. Additionally, each fellow is paired with an internal mentor (from within her/his institution) and an external mentor during their fellowship. Partner schools nominate fellows with attention to BIPOC and other underrepresented faculty dedicated to the built environment professions and disciplines. The first cohort of seven fellows are currently in their second summer institute, hosted at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, a Harvard research center located in Washington DC.

The 2022 cohort features seventeen fellows from the University of Washington/ College of Built Environments; Tulane University/  School of Architecture; University of Texas at Arlington/ College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs; City College of New York/ Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; Graduate School of Design/ Harvard University; University of Michigan/ Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning; University of Pennsylvania/  Stuart Weitzman School of Design; The University of Arizona/ College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture; University of Maryland/ School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation; Virginia Tech/ School of Architecture and Design; Cornell University/ College of Architecture, Art, and Planning; and Howard University, College of Engineering and Architecture. They include faculty from architecture, landscape architecture, real estate development, historic preservation, city and regional planning, and construction management.

Participating in the program are members of the Dark Matter University, senior faculty and deans from partner schools, and members of the professional associations of the Association of Colleges and Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), and the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA). The professional organizations have also offered financial support for the program as have many of the schools including the Spitzer School of Architecture and North Carolina State University.

“Increasing diversity in ways that value and strengthen equity and inclusion in our institutions requires more than what any one school can do. We believe it takes the collective of design and planning schools to change who we hire, and what we teach and practice,” states the Dean’s Initiative website. And as noted by Adrian Parr, University of Oregon “We are collectively mentoring the next generation of diverse faculty into successful academic careers. Working together, we believe that through cross-institutional stewardship of early career faculty, the initiative will expand and enrich the community of designers, planners, and scholars in tenure-track faculty positions across our schools and the nation.”

For more information, visit the initiative’s website at www.deansequityandinclusioninitiative.com.

Media interview opportunities:

Thaïsa Way, Director, GLS, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, Harvard University,
Email: wayt01@doaks.org
Adrian Parr, Dean, College of Design, University of Oregon,
Email: aparr@uoregon.edu

QUOTES FROM DEANS:

Fritz Steiner, Dean, University of Pennsylvania / Stuart Weitzman School of Design

“The University of Pennsylvania is delighted to participate in this launching pad for young scholars. The Deans Equity and Inclusion Initiative provides a network for emerging design and planning academics to connect with one another as well as seasoned administrators. In doing so, I hope we can help change the future of education in our fields to foster a greater sense of justice and belonging for all.”

Nancy Pollock-Ellwand, Dean, University of Arizona / College of Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture
“​​We are thrilled that the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona’s most recent faculty hires, Kenneth Kokroko and Mackenzie Waller, will participate in the second cohort of the Deans Equity and Inclusion Initiative.  This grouping of young scholars from across the country will undoubtedly make critical connections; and be both inspired and provide inspiration to others in that cohort.  We are enthusiastic about this opportunity to help further broaden our continuing efforts around Equity and Inclusion in our college. “

Clara Irazábal, University of Maryland / School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation

“What the DEII Program does both for POC and other underrepresented faculty from schools dedicated to the built environment and for these institutions is fabulous and necessary, but even more important and transcendent is what fellows will do for themselves and each other in the communities of learning and care they’ll form.”

Ignacio N Alday, Dean, Tulane University / School of Architecture

“After the enormous success of the two Tulane Architecture Fellows in the first cohort of the DEII program, we are even more convinced of the potential of this approach: to facilitate the access to the university to early career and future academics from underrepresented minorities. The fellows are contributing to TuSA very substantially -each in his own area of focus- and are helping to make a more just built environment through bringing new perspectives. Having our third fellow in this new cohort -Dr. Fallon S. Aidoo- is as promising and exciting.”

Renee Cheng, Dean, University of Washington / College of Built Environments

“Intercultural fluency is an essential skill for the 21st century, because valuing insights from those with life-experiences different than our own leads to innovation and true collaboration. By connecting scholars from diverse disciplines, institutions, and backgrounds, this program provides important opportunities to build their intercultural skills and advance our collective work tackling built environment issues relevant to societal challenges such as the right to housing and promotion of environmental justice.”

Fellows 2022

Fellow:	Title	Department/ Program	Host School:
Fallon S. Aidoo	Assistant Professor	Real Estate Development & Historic Preservation	Tulane University School of Architecture
Michelle Magalong	Assistant Professor	Historic Preservation	University of Maryland
Georgeanne Matthews	Assistant Professor	Architecture	University of Maryland
Zihao Zhang	Assistant Professor	Architecture/ Landscape Architecture	Spitzer School of Architecture/ CCNY
Kenneth Kokroko	Assistant Professor	Landscape Architecture	School of Landscape Architecture & Planning, University of Arizona
Mackenzie Waller	Assistant Professor	Landscape Architecture	School of Landscape Architecture & Planning, University of Arizona
Ariadna Reyes-Sanchez	Assistant Professor	Planning	University of Texas Arlington
Dr. Matt Miller Kenyatta	Post-Doctoral Fellow	City and Regional Planning	Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
Dahlia Nduom	Assistant Professor	Architecture	College of Engineering and Architecture, Howard University,
Isaac Mangual-Martinez	Visiting Instructor	Architecture	Virginia Tech, School of Architecture + Design
Zakhary Mallett	Strauch Fellow	City and Regional Planning	College of Architecture, Art and Planning, Cornell University
Sydney Maubert	Strauch Fellow	City and Regional Planning	College of Architecture, Art and Planning, Cornell University
Torri Smith	Michigan Mellon Design Fellow in Egalitarianism and the Metropolis	Architecture	Taubman College, University of Michigan
Kevin Bernard Moultrie Daye	Spatial and Racial Justice Fellow	Architecture	Taubman College, University of Michigan
Narjes Abbasabadi	Assistant Professor	Architecture	College of Built Environments, University of Washington
Lingzi Wu	Assistant Professor	Construction Management	College of Built Environments, University of Washington
Sean Canty	Assistant Professor	Architecture	Graduate School of Design, Harvard University