The CED Dean's Advisory Council is a select group of alumni and friends who care deeply about the College of Environmental Design and serve as its ambassadors with fellow CED alumni, alumni of the University, and others whose professional and philanthropic interests align with CED's purpose.
Membership in the Dean's Advisory Council is by invitation of the dean of the college. Council members provide strategic planning advice to assist the dean in promoting CED to constituencies beyond the campus, as well as encouraging alumni and others to make gifts to the college. Members also bring their external expertise to the college, informing the dean about notable trends in the architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning fields to help shape CED's activities, programming, and facilities development.
The CED Dean's Advisory Council evolved out of the CED Alumni (CEDA) board of directors, founded in 1990, which for almost two decades served the college by organizing events and programs such as the annual Distinguished Alumni Award Program and the CED Mentorship Program. In 2010 the CEDA board redefined and reformed itself as the CED Dean's Advisory Council.
Advisory Council
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Fred Blackwell, Master of City and Regional Planning 1996
Fred Blackwell, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation was former Assistant City Administrator for the City of Oakland. He was responsible for community and economic development; parks and recreation; select public works functions; human services; libraries; liaison to museum services; and community relations, including supporting public safety initiatives. He was also the director of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (SFRA) since 2007, where he oversaw housing, economic development, and infrastructure investments in the city's eight project areas. Before joining SFRA, Mr. Blackwell was the director of the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Community Development, where he administered the city's Community Development Block Program, focusing on economic and service-focused strategies to meet the needs of San Francisco's low-income families and neighborhoods. |
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Kofi Bonner, Master of City and Regional Planning 1986, Master of Architecture 1987
Kofi Bonner is Regional Vice President of Lennar Urban. In this role, Mr. Bonner oversees all land acquisition and urban development activities from Sacramento to San Jose, including the Hunters Point Shipyard, Candlestick Point, and Treasure Island. Born in Ghana, Mr. Bonner began his career as an affordable housing developer for Oakland Community Housing Inc., and then served as head of redevelopment for the City of Emeryville. He later held the positions of Director of Community and Economic Development and Interim City Manager for the City of Oakland, where he helped lead efforts to revitalize the city's downtown neighborhoods. |
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Ricardo L. Capretta
, BA Architecture 1981
Ricardo Capretta is President of Capretta Properties Inc. since 1992, a Western U.S. real estate development and investment company that has completed over 8,000,000 square feet of commercial transactions valued at over $1.3 billion. Currently, Mr. Capretta is solely focused on “Net Zero” green design and development of office and residential subdivisions. Mr. Capretta also attended UCLA and received a MBA in 1981 and a Masters in Architecture & Urban Planning in 1985. Previously, he was a Visiting Professor at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. Ricardo Capretta is a licensed Architect in the State of California, the Chairman of the Mill Valley Planning Commission and active with assisting Foster Care children in California. |
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Vishaan Chakrabarti
, Master of Architecture 1996
Vishaan Chakrabarti is a partner at SHoP Architects where he co-leads the design for major projects worldwide. Simultaneously, he is a Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation. Mr. Chakrabarti has previously served as the Director of the Manhattan Office for the New York Department of City Planning where he successfully led efforts to save the High Line, rezone Hudson Yards, extend the #7 subway line, and reincorporate the street grid at the World Trade Center site after the tragic events of 9/11. He currently serves on the boards of the Architectural League of New York, the Municipal Art Society of New York, and Enterprise Community Partners. He is a trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission, and is an emeritus board member of Friends of the High Line. Mr. Chakrabarti is also a member of the Young Leaders Forum of the National Council on US-China Relations. |
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Darrell Chan, BA Architecture 1998, Master of Architecture 2004
Darrell Chan is the executive director of The Luk Hoi Tong Co. Ltd. (LHT), a development company founded in 1926 that specializes in hospitality as well as commercial and residential developments in Hong Kong. Prior to overseeing the company's project development and project management divisions at LHT, he was the Senior Designer at Kwan Henmi Architecture/Planning in San Francisco. Notable projects include the re-construction of the former Luk Hoi Tong Building and Queen's Theatre, well-known as a previous Hong Kong cinematic landmark. Mr. Chan earned both his B.A. in Architecture and Master of Architecture degree from UC Berkeley, where he also met his spouse, Jamie Ho, a fellow CED alumni. |
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James R. Crawford, BA Architecture 1970
Jim Crawford is a Partner and the Project Manager and Senior Technical Coordinator for the Los Angeles office of Richard Meier & Partners Architects. Since 1988, Jim’s role has encompassed general project management including schedule development and monitoring, consultant contracting and administration, technical coordination, code compliance, and construction administration services. Working in close collaboration with Design Partner Michael Palladino, Jim continues to offer his valuable experience to the firm’s projects which range in locations from Southern California and Northern California to Singapore, Malaysia, China, Italy, and Australia. Jim is a former Board Member of Pasadena Heritage and a current Board Member of the Pasadena Museum of California Art. |
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Brian Dougherty, BA Architecture 1972, Master of Architecture 1975
Brian Dougherty began his career under the guidance of mentor William Pierere, FAIA. Mr. Dougherty's work emphasizes energy conservation and sustainable design. Integrated into every project is a focus on holistic resource conservation, shared through lectures and presentations. Mr. Dougherty is an Accredited Professional in the USGBC LEED program and presently serves as the only practicing architect member of the board of the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS). |
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Gray B. Dougherty, Master of Architecture 2006
Gray Dougherty is a Partner and Project Manager at Dougherty and Dougherty Architecture. Mr. Dougherty is an expert in the development of REVIT Building Information Modeling, has demonstrated his commitment to finding sustainable solutions for urban infill projects. Mr. Dougherty has been actively involved in the American Institute of Architects since 2007. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the AIA California Council as the Vice President of the Academy for Emerging Professionals, and is also active on the Board of Directors of the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design Alumni Association. |
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William Fain, BA Architecture 1968
Bill Fain is an architect and urban designer with an international reputation and a long list of professional honors. Mr. Fain has practiced architecture and urban planning for over 35 years. He is the managing partner of, and directs master planning and urban design for, Johnson Fain, a firm of 100 architects, planners, and interior designers headquartered in downtown Los Angeles. With extensive experience in urban design, community planning, downtown redevelopment, and transit-oriented development, his career has focused on advancing the practice of urban design as a bridge between the public good and private benefit. |
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David Friedman, BS Civil Engineering 1975
David Friedman has more than 33 years of experience as a structural engineer and has been integral to the success of Forell/Elsesser Engineers and its many engineering achievements. Mr. Friedman is chair of the firm's board and executive committee. Known for his collaborative style and well-honed communication skills, Mr. Friedman brings a concern for the whole building to his role on each project. His interest in architecture and new construction is balanced by the challenges posted by seismic rehabilitations and the need to accommodate live-safety while preserving our architectural heritage. Mr. Friedman is chair of the board of the San Francisco Foundation and is a UC Berkeley Foundation trustee. |
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Jhaelen Hernandez-Eli, BA Architecture 2002
Mr. Hernandez-Eli is a partner at HE, a design firm based in New York City co-founded with his wife, Juliet Hernandez-Eli. The work of the studio includes residential, commercial, and cultural projects. Mr. Hernandez-Eli was a visiting professor at Parsons new School for Design, where he taught design and management seminars in the business program. He has lectured and participated in design reviews at Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, and Pratt among others. Jhaelen was formerly the Development Director for Diller + Scofidio + Renfro where he was a core member of the operations group that oversaw the strategic management and profitability of the 100-person studio. |
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Jackson Hsieh, BA Architecture 1983
Jackson Hsieh joined Morgan Stanley in 2012 as the Vice Chairman of Investment Banking. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Jackson worked as the Global head of the Real Estate, Lodging & Leisure Group for UBS, which has over 70 professionals located in New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sydney. At Morgan Stanley and UBS, he has served as senior banker on numerous multibillion-dollar hotel/resort sales and acquisition deals. In 2008, Mr. Hsieh was awarded the Jack A. Shaffer Financial Advisor of the Year Award at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit Conference. Mr. Hsieh serves on the UC Berkeley New York Campaign Committee. |
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Scott Johnson, BA Architecture 1972
Scott Johnson is a prolific designer of residential, commercial, and institutional building projects. A number of his best-known designs in the State of California have been widely published and have become local landmarks, including three high-rise buildings in Century City; the Opus One and Byron Wineries in the Napa Valley and in Santa Barbara County, respectively; Rincon Center, in San Francisco; and the Capitol Area East End Complex in Sacramento. In addition to designing nearly 100 built projects in the past 20 years, Mr. Johnson has also taught and lectured at various universities. |
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Chris Kent, M.L.A 1993
Chris Kent is a Principal at PGAdesign Landscape Architects.He enjoys working on a wide range of urban projects from housing to transportation serving both public agencies and private developers. Some of his recent projects include MacArthur Transit Village, Bart Line and Track Extension to San Jose, Hunters Point Housing, and Richmond Intermodal Station Plaza. He has worked in the bay Area for over 20 years and has completed over 100 projects. He was ASLA Trustee for 6 years and is currently serving on the ASLA Government Affairs Advisory Committee. |
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Sylvia P. Kwan, BA Architecture 1976, Master of Architecture 1978
Sylvia founded Kwan Henmi Architecture/Planning with her husband, Denis Henmi, in 1980. The firm has worked on such projects as the Moscone West Convention Center, SBC Park, airport projects in San Francisco and Oakland, and the Bessie Carmichael Elementary School. Ms. Kwan also lends her skills to various organizations and boards, including the American Institute of Architects, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Woman's Forum West, the Friends of Marin Center, and the Norcal Waste Systems Board. |
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Michael Lin, BA Architecture 2001
Michael Lin is a financial advisor at Ameriprise Financial Services in San Ramon. He focuses on asset management and retirement & estate planning strategies. He was co-chair of UC Berkeley's 10th and 15th reunion campaign committees for the Class of 2001 and also does work with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. For his great work, Mr. Lin was awarded the UC Berkeley Foundation Young Bear Award in 2011 for outstanding achievement on a fundraising project and successful outreach to the community and alumni. In January 2012, Mr. Lin also received the CAA Bradford S. King Award for Excellence in Service by a Young Alumnus. He is also currently serving on the planning committee for UC Berkeley’s Sesquicentennial. |
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Tom Mead, BA Architecture 1974
Tom Mead joined Equity Residential as the Vice President of Construction in 2013. Prior to joining Equity Residential, Mr. Mead was a Senior Vice President of Webcor Consulting Group. At Webcore, he was responsible for the firm’s hospitality projects and led projects here and abroad. Mr. Mead is a former UC Berkeley Foundation Trustee, is the president of the board of trustees for Civicorps Schools, and is on the executive board of the San Francisco Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts. |
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Gabriel Metcalf, Master of City and Regional Planning 2002 |
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Michael Painter, BS Landscape Arch 1956
Michael Painter is the Owner and President of MPA Design, and has offered design development strategies and solutions for award-winning projects since 1969. His extensive experience and aptitude for design have rendered accolades from the American Society of Landscape Architects, American Institute of Architects, UC Berkeley Department of Landscape Architecture, and the Lambda Alpha Honorary Land Economics Society. Michael earned his undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley and Masters Degree in Urban Design from Harvard University. He currently serves on the San Francisco Architectural Heritage Board and the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Advisory Committee (SPUR). He is married to Susan C. Painter, is the father of Joshua and Melissa, and grandfather to Alonzo. |
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Lydia Tan, BA Architecture 1983
Lydia Tan joined Bentall Kennedy in October 2014 after serving as executive vice president and director of Northern California Relations, Related California. Prior to Related California, Ms. Tan worked as executive vice president of Bridge Housing Corporation. She serves on the boards of directors of the Northern California Community Loan Fund and the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) and served for 12 years on the board of the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation. Ms. Tan earned her MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 1993. |
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Peter Walker, FASLA, Landscape Architecture 1983
Educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Walker has designed hundreds of projects, taught, lectured, written, and served as an advisor to numerous public agencies. The scope of his concerns is expansive—from the design of small gardens to the planning of cities—with a particular emphasis on corporate headquarters, plazas, cultural gardens, academic campuses, and urban-regeneration projects. |
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Barbara Wachsman, Master of City and Regional Planning 1983
Barbara Wachsman is a Senior Executive, Director of Health Management at The Walt Disney Company in Burbank. She is the former Senior Vice President at AON Consulting, which focused on health and benefits consulting. Barbara has been a tireless volunteer for the College of Environmental Design over the years, having served on the Board of Directors of the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design Alumni Association. |
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Judd Williams, BA Visual Design1990
In 1975 Mr. Williams’s waterbed frame design was accepted into the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery exhibit and Craft Multiples. This led to a career in designing and building furniture with Gary Foltz dba Williams & Foltz. They created simple modular knock down furniture built to last and recombine over time with a Greene and Greene aesthetic. When personal computers became popular he led the thinking about home office ergonomic notions into the broader furniture industry. Closing his company in 1989 he became a pioneer in stay at home fathers and has raised his girls. This provided time to volunteer with a range of school and nonprofits most notably the Discovery Council of the children's museum, College of Marin Foundation, City of Mill Valley Emergency Preparedness, and CED Alumni Association and Art Practice Alumni. He is currently working on a range of issues to further the transition from petrochemical fuels to twenty first century energy sources. |
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John Wong, BA Landscape Architecture 1974
John Wong is Managing Principal and Chairman at the SWA Group in Sausalito, California. He has directed an array of projects, from the design and crafting of small gardens to the large-scale planning and design of neighborhoods, towns, and new communities. He has extensive experience in both North America and Asia — particularly in Japan, Korea, and China. In 2010, Mr. Wong made an appearance in the movie Mission Impossible — Ghost Protocol alongside Tom Cruise (Mr. Wong designed the 27 acres of gorgeous gardens that provided a backdrop for Tom Cruise's stunt on the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai). Over the past two decades, Mr. Wong has led more than 125 campus improvement projects at Stanford University. He sits on the Design Review Committee for the UC Berkeley campus. |
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Joseph O. Wong, Master of Architecture 1974
Joseph O. Wong founded JWDA (Joseph Wong Design Associates), a San Diego-based firm, in 1977 to provide excellent professional services in architecture, planning, and interior design. Mr. Wong has served on the Board of Directors for the Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC), a San Diego Redevelopment Agency, and is also a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. JWDA has been recognized with numerous local and national awards of excellence such as AIA Honor Awards, National Design-Build Institute Honor Awards, and Gold Nugget Grand Awards. In addition, JWDA has an active presence in Asia and the Pacific Rim with offices in Shanghai and Shenzhen. |
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Paul Woolford
Paul Woolford has 25 years of experience in the practice of university, corporate, research, hospitality, and transportation architecture, as well as urban design and planning. He has been responsible for some of HOK's largest and most complex buildings. In 2003, Mr. Woolford received the AIA Young Architect Award, presented to architects who show exceptional leadership in design, education, and/or service to the profession. |
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Thomas Yee, BA Architecture 1973
Throughout his more than 30 years as an architect, Tom has demonstrated superior capabilities in the design and management of large-scale, complex projects and the coordination of sizable design and consultant teams. An outstanding designer, he also has a proven track record of producing exceptional results within strict budgetary and schedule constraints. His design work revitalizes traditional architectural forms, drawing inspiration from alternative shapes and materials, as well as light and structure. Tom's experience encompasses corporate, civic, and university projects, along with a substantial portfolio of headquarters and regional offices for leading law firms. He has also led the design of multiple commercial and cultural projects within China. |
Former Advisory Council Members
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Keith Helmatag, BA Architecture 1973 Founder and Partner, C&G Partners
Keith Helmatag is one of the founders of C&G Partners, an award-winning, multi-specialty design studio. Keith is currently working on virtual and analog place-making projects for the U.S. State Department’s new American Embassy in London; the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s National Opera & Library of Greece; a Putnam History Museum exhibit expanding interpretation of Scenic Hudson’s West Point Foundry Preserve; the 9/11 Memorial; and the Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center about astrophysics neutrino research and America’s largest historic gold mine. |
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Bob Lalanne BA Architecture 1978, UCB Parent
Robert Lalanne is a long time a member of the Berkeley Foundation Board of Trustees, and founder of The Lalanne Group. In 2013, Lalanne was named UC Berkeley’s first vice chancellor for real estate, a new role developed by Chancellor Nicholas Dirks. Lalanne brings to campus, more than 25 years of experience leading commercial, residential and mixed-use projects including the Portside condominiums along the Embarcadero in San Francisco, the Potrero Center, Falletti Plaza and more than 1,300 multi-family units around the Bay Area. |
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Frederic Schwartz, BA Architecture 1973 (1951-2014)
Fred Schwartz was an award-winning architect and planner with particular expertise in affordable, sustainable housing. He won the Guangzhou International Master Plan competition and was selected by the citizens of New Orleans and the New Orleans City Planning Commission to re-plan one-third of the city for 40% of its post-Katrina population. Mr. Schwartz was credited with changing the course of post-9/11 planning in New York City through his work, which facilitated an open site for the 9/11 memorial and a way to repair the city's skyline. He was the founder of Haiti Green Home, an initiative established to supply Haitians with housing kits that can evolve into permanent homes. More information about Mr. Schwartz's life is available here. |
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Robert T. Steinberg, M.Arch 1977
Robert T. Steinberg, partner at Steinberg Architects and the son of its founder. He takes pride in receiving compliments about members from his firm from the outside world, and therefore enjoys collaborating with his colleagues and partners to work towards perfecting design, “sculpting space and shaping life. |