Winter 2022-23 Directors Message + News Letter

Dear School of Design and Construction Community,

Jason Peschel.
Interim Director Jason Peschel

Welcome to the winter 2023 newsletter that highlights activities and celebrates accomplishments over the last six months. As we’ve continued our return to a “new normal” that includes in-person learning and events, there is much to celebrate! While much has changed or continues to change, a sense of normalcy on campus is welcomed.

In an effort to adjust to changing demographics and encourage potential students to consider one of our wonderful programs, we have created promotional videos for the school as well as for the architecture, construction management, interior design, and landscape architecture programs. The videos are masterfully done – I encourage you to check them out and share them broadly!

This year we welcome new faculty and several existing faculty into new positions in the school. We are excited about our new tenure-track faculty – Hongtao Dang in Construction Management, Shadi Abdel Haleem in Architecture, and Minyoung Cerruti who has pivoted from an instructor to a tenure-track position in Architecture. We are equally excited to announce that several faculty have pivoted from instructor to career-track faculty – Darhl Edwards in Construction Management and both Marti Cowan and Maryam Mansoori in Architecture. This year has seen the addition of several staff to our team too – Kate Barnes (Administrative Manager), Elena Gentry (Fiscal Specialist), and Terry Olson (Manager of Fab Lab and shops) – which serves to position the SDC well as we move forward. Lastly, we are searching for a permanent director for the school and two new faculty hires – one in architecture and one in landscape architecture. We are excited to see what the future will bring in these new hires!

Thank you for your continued support of the School of Design and Construction. Our alumni, industry partners, and friends are instrumental to our success…thank you! Your engagement helps us to sustain our efforts toward providing an excellent education to our students. The generous donations you provide enable us to allocate resources for student, faculty, and staff success. Please consider giving to the school and/or your affiliated program.

GO COUGS!

Jason's Signature

Jason B. Peschel

Associate Professor | Interim Director

School of Design + Construction