Stuckeman School names diversity, inclusion, access, well-being, equity honorees

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Stuckeman School in the College of Arts and Architecture has named Marc Miller, associate professor of landscape architecture, the school’s inaugural associate director for access, well-being and equity (AWE). He will oversee the school’s Diversity and Inclusion (DI) Fellows Program as well as the newly created AWE Ambassadors Program.

Together the DEI Fellows and the AWE Ambassadors will work to advance the school’s diversity, inclusion, access, well-being and equity together under Miller’s guidance.

Miller was a 2021-22 Stuckeman School DI Fellow and has helped organize school-wide events that offer support to incoming students of color over the years. He is also the faculty adviser for the Penn State chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students. Miller currently serves as vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion and recruitment on the board of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture and is the immediate past president for the Black Landscape Architects Network.      

The three-year associate director for AWE position in the Stuckeman School was established with the College of Arts and Architecture’s Office of Access and Equity and contributes to the goals on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging at both the college and university levels.

“With the institutional structure established and enthusiastic and dedicated personnel in house, we are excited to make our learning and working environment even more accessible and equitable,” said Chingwen Cheng, Stuckeman School director. “It is our goal to make all of our students, faculty and staff feel welcome and to establish a strong sense of community within the Stuckeman School.”

Architecture doctoral students Mahsa Adib and Ankita Karmakar along with undergraduate landscape architecture student Jaylaan Pough have been named the school’s 2024-25 DI Fellows. Initiated in 2021, the DI Fellowship program offers the opportunity for faculty, staff and students who want to improve diversity and inclusivity in the Stuckeman School to do so through research, teaching and outreach in the school community. They will implement their fellowship proposals throughout the academic year. 

The school’s new AWE Ambassador program is intended to align with the “Co-Design Stuckeman School 2025-2030” strategic planning effort to collaboratively engage the school’s community of faculty, staff and students in “advancing access, well-being and equity in the Stuckeman School in all aspects of what we do in research, teaching and outreach, as well as how we interact and function in the school,” said Cheng.

The seven inaugural Stuckeman AWE Ambassadors are: Nate Schierman, undergraduate academic adviser; Taylor Shipton, assistant teaching professor of graphic design; Adib; Sana Ahrar, architecture doctoral candidate; Eric Chen, undergraduate architecture student; Pough; and Nusrat Tabassum, architecture doctoral candidate.

Learn more about the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on the Arts and Architecture website.