People 

Students and faculty in the PhD program at the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation come from diverse backgrounds and have a wide array of interests. However, they all share a strong interest in the built environment and a commitment to use their research to make this human environment more livable and sustainable.

Our network of students, faculty and alumni, our rich opportunities for interdisciplinary study, and our prime location near Washington, DC and Baltimore, make the University of Maryland a fertile environment for advancement in the planning field.

Use the menu at the right to learn more about our students, faculty and alumni.

STUDENT TESTIMONIALS

Doan Nguyen: "During my PhD candidacy, I started to teach while conducting my own research, and worked for the National Center for Smart Growth. The program's structure is flexible enough to allow me to take all courses important to my own research; not just to fulfill the doctoral requirements."

Rodney Harrell: "I was attracted to our PhD program because of the intimate size of the program, its location, and its interdisciplinary structure. I have been able to design and undertake a dissertation project, teach courses, and pursue other research interests while here."

Maria Teresa Souza: "I appreciate the coupling of academic rigor and flexibility. After only four core courses, I could develop my own curriculum. While examining the relationship of urban regulation to informal housing, I needed to understand spatial analysis, statistics, econometrics and microeconomics. The university's graduate programs have more than met my needs for instruction in these diverse fields."

Cari Varner: "The University of Maryland offers access to two provocative urban environments (Washington DC and Baltimore, Maryland) and is in close proximity to ground-breaking master planned communities such as Greenbelt, Reston and Kentlands, as well as great examples of what not to do (suburban sprawl, Tyson's Corner) and how to fix it (Maryland's progressive Smart Growth policies). The faculty are accessible and also interested in trying to provide assistance and offer provocative feedback. The program is self-directed which allows for flexibility to pursue your own interests and is a challenging place to pursue a PhD in Urban Planning."

Aysegul Yilmaz: "Besides its incredibly supportive and experienced faculty with diverse backgrounds, what I like most about our PhD program is the flexibility it provides in structuring a PhD study. Apart from the courses the program is offering, I was also able to take courses from other graduate programs of the university that were directly relevant to my dissertation research ."