2013-2014 Annual Report

The 2013-14 College of Environmental Design Annual Report provides our alumni and supporters, and the public, with a multidimensional view of the college, and communicates some of the highlights of this past academic year’s activities. This Report is a snapshot of the diverse contributions and accomplishments of CED’s academic departments, research units, and administrative operations. As in other years, CED owes its achievements to the talent, dedication, ingenuity, and collaborative efforts of our college staff, students and faculty. 

Notable accomplishments in 2013-14 include:

• We welcomed superb new faculty in our academic departments. Four additional faculty members will be recruited in 2014-15.
• Elizabeth Deakin served as Chair of the UC Berkeley Academic Senate, a significant recognition.
• Several faculty received important awards, such as the AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education (Harrison Fraker), Rome Prize (Nicholas de Monchaux), John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship (Nezar Al-Sayyad), and University of Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning Dean’s Medal (Walter Hood).
• We ably supported our mission and students, despite fiscal constraint, through judicious use of resources and reserves, and by raising additional funds via philanthropy and entrepreneurial efforts.
• CED Frontiers, our first ever strategic plan was completed and activated.
• The Environmental Design Archives exhibit Unbuilt San Francisco opened to great acclaim.
• The Environmental Design Library served a record number of patrons and hosted a series of notable exhibits and talks.
• The elegant new Digital Fabrication Lab opened, housing laser cutters, 3D printers, a CNC router, and a state-of-the-art blade cutter.
• The CED Office of Career Services provided support to a large number of students through workshops, panel discussions, and one-on-one career counseling.
• A new summer program for undergraduates, Design & Innovation for Sustainable Cities (DISC), was introduced. The program attracted an extraordinary group of students from around the world and from a variety of disciplines.
• Two new graduate certificate programs were established, one focused on geographic information science and technology (with Natural Resources, Social Sciences, and Public Health) and the other on real estate (with Law and Business).
• The Mellon Foundation-funded Global Urban Humanities Initiative with the Division of Arts & Humanities was launched to build intellectual and pedagogical bridges spanning the arts and humanities, and the fields of environment design.
• The new undergraduate Sustainable Environmental Design major was offered for the first time during the 2013-14 application cycle. The major attracted 230 applicants – a very strong start!