Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
For “exemplifying excellence in design education leadership,” Jon Rodiek, professor of landscape architecture at Texas A&M, was recently named one of the nation’s most admired educators by the Design Future’s Council, a leading design industry collaborative.
Rodiek was one of 25 U.S. design educators to make the 2011 most admired list, published in the DFC’s Nov. 3, 2010 DesignIntelligence newsletter. The top educators are selected annually by the DFC from the disciplines of architecture, interior design, industrial design and landscape architecture with extensive input from hundreds of design professionals, academic department heads and students.
Rodiek, a leading voice in the field of landscape planning research, also serves as coordinator of Texas A&M's Master of Landscape Architecture program and is a Fellow in the American Society of Landscape Architects. He joined the College of Architecture faculty in 1988.
Widely recognized as a superb teacher and mentor, Rodiek is known for advocating the application of relevant scientific information in design decisions. He has conducted precedent-setting work in developing design and planning techniques for mined land reclamation, wildlife habitat protection, wetland identification and arid land planning.
He is also a sought-after authority on wetland classification and interpretation and the assessment and evaluation of landscape and wildlife habitat. His writings on these topics have been presented at conferences around the world.
In 1990, he began a two-decade tenure as editor of Landscape and Urban Planning, an international journal of landscape ecology, landscape planning, and landscape; the journal is based on the premise that research linked to practice will ultimately improve the human-made landscape. He has also authored dozens of major manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals.
The honor is yet another in a long list of accolades Rodiek has received throughout his distinguished teaching career, which began at the University of Arizona in 1974.
In 2004, he was recognized as an international leader in landscape planning as the inaugural recipient of the Fábos Medal, an award honoring the legacy of landscape architecture pioneer Julius Gy.Fábos, the principal developer of the Metropolitan Landscape Planning System for landscape assessment and planning.
In June 2000, he earned the Award of Distinction from the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. He received a Distinguished Achievement Award in teaching from Texas A&M in 1996, a National Team Leadership Award from the Professional Division of the American Association of University Administrators in 1990 and a U.S. Forest Service Certificate of Merit in 1976.
In 2001, Rodiek was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Massachusetts where, between 1967 and 1974, he earned four degrees: Ph.D., M.S., M.L.A. and B.L.A.
Other Texas A&M College of Architecture faculty on past years' DesignIntelligence Most Admired Educators lists include Forster Ndubisi, head of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Michael Murphy, professor of landscape architecture, and J. Thomas Regan, professor of architecture and former dean of the college.
A detailed profile of Jon Rodiek is available on the College of Architecture website at
http://archone.tamu.edu/college/news
The 25 top professors and educational leaders on the DesignIntelligence Most Admired Educators of 2011 list can be viewed online at
http://www.di.net/articles
- Posted: Nov. 4, 2010 -
Contact: Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.
