USU Department Head Wins National Award
USU professor and Department Head Sean Michael was honored with the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture's 2015 Outstanding Administrator Award, recognizing his long-term accomplishments as an administrator. The award recognizes individuals who "instigate, support or inspire improvement in the education and experience of students." (Photo by Gary Neuenswander)
Sean Michael, head of Utah State University’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning (LAEP), was honored at the recent Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture’s Annual Conference with the 2015 Outstanding Administrator Award, recognizing his long-term accomplishments as an administrator.
The competitive award is given to administrators who “instigate, support or inspire improvement in the education and experience of students.”
Michael compared his work in academic administration to a landscape planning project.
“There are a many variables to consider, and a diverse team of stakeholders and co-designers, and yet we have a central purpose,” he said. “That challenge has proven to be fascinating to me, and one that employs the problem-solving and systems thinking that landscape architecture teaches.”
Michael joined the USU Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning faculty in 2008. He helped the program become one of the leading landscape architecture programs in the Intermountain West. He was also instrumental in the department’s transition from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences to its current home in the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences.
“Sean has a great vision and boundless energy to support that vision,” said David Anderson, associate professor in LAEP. “He is working hard to advance the LAEP department so we can develop relevant, on-point and effective students who are prepared to make a difference in the world, because issues of land use planning and the ways people interact with their environments will only become more important in the coming years.”
Michael said that the most important part of his work is giving others the opportunity to pursue their dreams.
“At times that means organization, and at times providing vital resources,” he said. “The most critical is visioning and planning for those activities that allow the program to grow and flourish in a changing future.”
Related links:
- Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture
- USU Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
- USU College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences
Contact: Sean Michael, Sean.Michael@usu.edu
Writer: Shelby Ruud, Shelby.Ruud@usu.edu
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