College of Architecture's 12th annual
symposium spotlights faculty research

Natural, Built, Virtual, the 12th Annual Texas A&M College of Architecture Research Symposium featuring a series of faculty presentations previously delivered at scholarly venues around the world, took place Oct. 18, 2010 at the Langford Architecture Center on the Texas A&M campus.

"The individual sessions comprising the symposium display a wide range of scholarship with respect to people and place," said Louis G. Tassinary, executive associate dean for the College of Architecture. "Fundamentally, the sessions reflect themes that have emerged in the work of the faculty and research staff over the past year."

The symposium including more than 50 invited or refereed presentations and papers from the 2009-10 academic year, was divided into diverse categories and delivered in several concurrent sessions. The 2010 presentations were grouped in broad categories including invention, energy, modeling, management, policy, pedagogy, aging, innovation, perception, history, archaeology, excogitation and well-being.

The annual symposium was established a more than a decade go to underscore the influence of research on teaching and practice. It also serves as a catalyst for research-informed teaching in the College of Architecture's five undergraduate and nine graduate degree programs. And, because many of the faculty presentations were originally delivered at scholarly venues abroad, the event also celebrates the global influence of research conducted by college faculty.

Highlighting the 2010 symposium was a keynote address by Jeffrey R. Seemann, vice president for research and graduate studies at Texas A&M University. An internationally recognized plant biochemist with research interests in photosynthesis and global change, he is listed by Current Contents, a leading database of scholarly journals, as one of the top 250 most cited researchers in the world in the area of plant and animal sciences.

“Dr. Seemann is a remarkable scholar and administrator, someone who truly understands and appreciates the vital role of design, the arts and the professions in explicating the human condition,” said Louis G. Tassinary, executive associate dean of the College of Architecture. “We are all looking forward to a provocative presentation.”

As vice president for research and graduate studies, Seemann works with the faculty, staff, and administrators as the university stakes out an ambitious agenda, which includes elevating Texas A&M to be among the top 10 public research universities in the nation by the year 2020. Since joining Texas A&M in 2009, he has led a host of programs and initiatives furthering research, scholarship and creative works at Texas A&M, while overseeing the university’s critical research support operations.

Seemann serves on the Houston Technology Center and Research Valley Partnership Boards of Directors. He earned a bachelor’s degree with honors from Oberlin College with a major in biology, and a doctoral degree from Stanford University in biological sciences.

For eight years prior to joining Texas A&M, Seemann served as dean of the University of Rhode Island’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences and co-chair of the R.I. Science and Technology Advisory Council. He also served 17 years as a professor and head of the biochemistry department at the University of Nevada, Reno.

- Posted: Nov. 29, 2010 -

Contact:   Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.