New Orleans LA 70118-5698
USA
Tulane School of Architecture and Built Environment is welcoming its third large faculty cohort in three years. Bringing expertise in architecture and built environment education, these faculty span the fields of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Real Estate Development.
Having experienced significant growth in its student population and breadth of academic offerings, this latest round of hiring continues efforts to expand the school's already impressive faculty base since 2023.
“The need for more faculty is both exciting and promising, as we continue growing and evolving into the school to study every field of the built environment,” said Dean Iñaki Alday.
Assia Crawford, whose work sits at the intersection of architecture, biology, and critical theory, joins the school as an Assistant Professor of Architecture. Currently researching mycelium-based textiles as environmentally friendly alternatives to leather, Crawford looks forward to exploring bio-design as a tool for ecological repair and narrative expression. She describes New Orleans, “not as a backdrop, but as a co-author in architectural education” and an ideal place for these investigations.
Recognizing the need to “simplify construction assemblies and localize material sourcing,” Christopher Meyer, co-founder of Atelier Mey, joins the faculty as an Associate Professor of Architecture. His current research examines “southern yellow pine forests stretching across the southeastern U.S. as a renewable source for various construction materials,” considering pines’ entire life cycle. He is excited to work in New Orleans and the equally important surrounding territories, such as the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Deltas.
Shawna Meyer, Professor of Practice in Architecture, co-founded Atelier Mey, a practice that explores contemporary issues, such as energy, efficacy, and craftmanship, through an embrace of slowness, allowing deep consideration of the forces that shape environments. She sees New Orleans as ripe for exploring tensions between place and identity and is “look[ing] forward to exploring and contributing to the discourse in New Orleans with care and humility.”
Yeonhwa Lee, Assistant Professor in Real Estate Development, looks forward to establishing a research program that both responds to urgent challenges concerning housing in New Orleans and contributes to broader national policy conversations about housing. In her teaching, she “plan[s] to draw extensively from the rich case study that New Orleans provides, not only in terms of challenges and pressures but also in terms of solutions and possibilities.”
Darryl Glade, Professor of Practice in Real Estate Development, wants to use this new position, having previously taught as an adjunct lecturer, to enable students to see real estate as more than a transaction and to embrace its entrepreneurial potentials. Through courses on technology and artificial intelligence, he hopes “to build [students’] confidence to think creatively, solve problems, and take action.”
Richelle Allen, Professor of Practice in Real Estate Development, joins the permanent faculty after working as an adjunct lecturer and having a successful career in Real Estate Development at HRI. She brings her expansive experience to the classroom, having worked her way up from an entry-level Financial Analyst to serve as Vice President of Development at HRI. She will also leverage her experience at Stonehenge Capital, which specializes in federal and state tax credit syndication.
Pankaj Vir Gupta returns to the school with a three-year appointment as the new Katz Professor of Architecture and Urbanism. He continues to serve as co-director of the renowned research initiative on water and urbanization, The Yamuna River Project.
Leah Kahler joins the faculty as Research Assistant Professor for the NASEM Gulf Coast Climate Futures project to co-produce a volume about how extractive systems have shaped landscapes and plant cultivation practices across the Gulf South.
Jess Vanecek, Research Assistant Professor on the Yamuna River Project, will use her expertise in multi-scalar watershed research and representational methods to research the ecological and cultural restoration of the river.
Engaging with ecological urban infrastructures, Sean Fowler will continue his work with the New Orleans Public Space Project research studio as a Research Assistant Professor.
Visit the online faculty listings.
