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The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ strives to reinforce faculty in establishing and maintaining a record of strong research, scholarship, creative achievement and engaged scholarship.Ìý

This summer, Dean Jason Young recognized 6 faculty members with one of the three college awards.Ìý

The James Johnson Dudley Faculty Scholar supports the research development of tenured or tenure-track faculty. Established in 2011 by Libba Wall in honor of her son and alumnus of the program, the award celebrates the faculty who believed in Dudley when he was a student.Ìý

This year’s Dudley Scholar is Assistant Professor Hojung Kim for his project,ÌýMaterial Ecologies of Craft, Heritage and Industrialization. This project examines how craft, heritage and material practices in Vietnam can inform more environmentally responsive and culturally grounded approaches to contemporary architecture and interior design. Through fieldwork, archival research, material experimentation and prototyping, the research seeks to connect local knowledge with regenerative design while addressing the environmental and social impacts of industrialization.Ìý

TheÌýAlma and Hal Reagan Research Seed AwardÌýwas established to help kickstart shorter-term, high impact research projects or the beginning stages of potentially longer-term projects. These projects target categories that address the college’s strengths and strategic priorities. This year’s awards were presented to…Ìý

Assistant Professor Sarah Bolivar was awarded for Multispecies Landscapes: Visualizing Co-Benefits in Appalachian Working Lands, a project which explores how working-land management strategies in South Central Appalachia can support both human communities and more-than-human life while improving biodiversity and landscape resilience. Through maps, diagrams, and other visual tools, the research translates conservation and land-management practices into accessible design strategies for landowners, conservation organizations, and designers.Ìý

Professor Hansjörg Goeritz,Ìýin collaboration with Director of the School of Architecture and Professor and designer Pablo Mandel, will author On Drafting On: Research through Drawing and Writing, a project which

reconsiders architectural drawing and drafting as forms of knowledge, craft, and disciplined practice in an era of rapidly accelerating image production. The book brings together drawings, writing, historical references, student work, and experimental approaches to printing and publishing. Rather than romanticizing traditional craft or simply opposing it to contemporary technologies such as AI, the project asks what drawing can still teach us about attention, labor, materiality, and architectural thought. The resulting publication will emphasize the depth, slowness, and tactile qualities of drawing as an alternative to the speed and superficiality of contemporary visual culture.Ìý

Assistant Professor Aaron Neal will pursue research focused on trauma-informed design in a project titled Designing for Every Mind. Working in partnership with Dogwood Elementary School, Neal builds on a community-engaged design studio that investigated light, color, materiality, wayfinding, sensory regulation, safety, flexibility, and choice within classroom environments. The research will advance these investigations through material, color, and lighting studies and the development of a full-scale trauma-informed prototype. The project seeks to translate research into permanent design interventions while contributing to a broader conversation about the future of neurodiverse educational spaces.Ìý

Assistant Professor Ryan Roark will investigate how biologically based materials can be used to adapt and retrofit historic buildings. Roark will develop and test architectural assemblies made from agricultural and seafood waste, including biopolymers derived from chitin and gelatin, exploring their potential in bricks, tiles, composites, and lightweight assemblies. The work will culminate in an exhibition at the Atlanta Preservation Center titled Biogenic Retrofits Buildings and Other Ecosystems, where full-scale prototypes will be placed in conversation with an existing historic structure. Through fabrication, exhibition, and documentation, the project positions material experimentation and adaptive reuse as complementary strategies for more environmentally responsive architectural renovation.ÌýÌý

TheÌýJames Musgraves Research AwardÌýsupports faculty with research projects in later development stages that would benefit from additional funding to complete them. This year’s awards supported…ÌýÌý

Assistant Professor Micah Rutenberg will hold anÌýInternational Exhibit, Lecture, and Book Launch ofÌýThe Mechanized Landscape: Statecraft and Environment in the Tennessee Valley in Tokyo. Rutenberg’s book, written in collaboration with Professor Avigail Sachs, examines how the Tennessee Valley Authority transformed the Tennessee Valley through infrastructure, environmental intervention, and regional planning.Ìý

These faculty awards exemplify the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½â€™s deep commitment to advancing innovative, relevant, and impactful research.Ìý