CAPLA Leadership

Associate Professor of Architecture
Director, The Drachman Institute
MS.Arch Faculty Advisor, Urban Design Concentration

Courtney Crosson is a licensed architect and associate professor at the University of Arizona, where she teaches classes on water in the built environment and community outreach studios. These studios, funded by the city, county or private practice, tackle critical issues in urban sustainability. Through exhibitions, books, presentations, workshops and even board games, the design work seeks to go beyond the studio and engage citizens and governments in solutions for their cities. Several of the designs produced in her studios have received public funding to be constructed.

Strategic and Operations Manager
Executive Assistant to the Dean

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Associate Professor of Architecture

Laura Hollengreen is a historian specializing in Gothic art and architecture, with secondary interests in Roman and Byzantine culture as well as modern art and contemporary theory. She is associate professor of architecture and also serves as both associate director of the School of Architecture and associate dean of CAPLA for academic affairs. In between stints at UArizona (1995-2009, 2017-present), she was associate professor in the School of Architecture and assistant provost for academic advocacy and conflict resolution at Georgia Tech.

Director, Marketing and Communications

Jeffrey Javier, serves as the director of marketing and communications for the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. In his role, he leads the marketing and communications team developing compelling content that highlights the College's initiatives, programs, students, alumni, emphasizing their significant contributions to the community. He has more than 10 years of experience working at the University of Arizona in marketing and communication roles. 

Director, School of Landscape Architecture and Planning
Professor of Landscape Architecture

Lauri Macmillan Johnson is Professor and Director of the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning. Her research focuses on design theories of contemporary landscape architecture, cultural landscapes, and children's environments. She is author of Creating Outdoor Classrooms: Schoolyard Habitats and Gardens for the Southwest, University of Texas Press, 2008. Macmillan Johnson is co-designer of the winning entry Garden of Abandonment for Chaumont-sur-loire International Festival of Gardens (des Parcs et Jardins) held in France, 2003.

Director, School of Architecture
Professor of Architecture

Ryan E. Smith is a professor of architecture and director of the School of Architecture at the University of Arizona. Professor Smith has been teaching, researching and consulting with respect to offsite construction and housing, modular product R&D, business strategy and market assessment for nearly 20 years.

Professor of Architecture
Program Chair, Object and Spatial Design emphasis areas, BA Design Arts & Practices (BA DAP)
University of Arizona Inclusive Leadership Fellow

Beth Weinstein’s practice and research move between the architectural and the performative, and across scales from drawing to performance-installations to urban interventions, investigating spatial manifestations and invisibilities of political and environmental issues. Her practice-based doctoral research explored how performances of spatial labor, employing architecture’s instruments (text, drawings and models), can render ‘sensible’ (in)visibilities around architectures of internment.

Assistant Dean of Finance and Administration

Simon J. White FCCA is the Assistant Dean of Finance and Administration at the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA). Simon has worked at The University of Arizona for 15 years in a variety of departments holding financial and business positions including Director of Business Services and Managing Director. His last role was in Facilities Management heading up the Business Services Division.

Associate Dean for Research
Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning

Bo Yang PhD, PLA FASLA AICP is a professor in the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning and CAPLA associate dean for research. Prior to joining the University of Arizona Bo taught at Utah State University and Texas A&M University.