Kenn Jones' two University of Maryland degrees set the stage for a successful career in architecture. But 10 years into practice, Jones ’86, M.Arch. ’89 went off-script. He served as a U.S. diplomat in Lebanon, built curriculums for kindergarteners and college students (including an interdisciplinary associate degree in design), and resurrected a prominent school for fine art. Sprinkled in between were stints as a college professor, philanthropic officer, product designer, and head of a leading NYC educational nonprofit.
While his days as an architect are behind him, the skills he amassed at UMD’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation — creative and critical thinking, effective communication, and collaborative problem-solving — have been throughlines in his professional life.
Now a $525,000 gift from Jones will give Maryland students an educational experience rooted in Jones’ own: A studio course where students from different programs in the school converge to learn from each other and create solutions together. Part of Forward: The University of Maryland Campaign for the Fearless, the Jones Family Endowed Interdisciplinary Studio capitalizes on the school as an incubator for the allied disciplines of the built environment — which includes architecture, urban planning, real estate development and historic preservation — through a co-curricular academic course.
“It’s the perfect academic embodiment of my approach to work and life; it’s what I learned as a Maryland student,” said Jones, who is now retired but still actively engaged public service. “It just made sense.”
Slated to begin in Fall 2027, the studio will bring together students and faculty from architecture, urban planning, historic preservation and real estate development to engage in the holistic process of creating and transforming places. Together, they will critically analyze and address real-world challenges like economic impact, preservation of cultural value, and sustainable, people-focused design. Students will engage professionals, civic leaders and community stakeholders to understand different perspectives and to build consensus. The studio will intentionally replicate what students will encounter in professional practice — or wherever their journey takes them.
“The challenges facing our communities require us to work across disciplines, listen carefully and learn from one another,” said Dean Dawn Jourdan. “Kenn’s generosity will make that collaboration a defining part of our students’ education and demonstrates the life-changing power of philanthropy. His own remarkable journey shows just how far these skills can take them and the good they can do along the way.”
Jones’ interest in giving back to the school was sparked by a chance run-in with a former professor, Lindley Vann, during one of Jones’ campus visits as part of MAPP’s alumni network board. Jones studied under Vann for two summers in Caesarea, Israel (with scholarship support), working alongside other students, archaeologists and members of the community to carefully uncover centuries of the town’s ancient civilization. Their meeting didn’t just bring back a flood of memories for Jones; it also reminded him how his Maryland experience shaped his worldview and set into motion a 30-year career of collaborative, people-centered community engagement.
While students across the school’s programs mingle in shared spaces and through dual-degree options, elective coursework, interdisciplinary competitions and study abroad, this new studio will build on a history of interdisciplinary projects, like the Solar Decathlon, ULI Hines and the HUD Design Challenge and formalize interdisciplinary collaboration opportunities for students, said Brittany Williams, assistant director of the architecture program.
“It’s creating a tradition that’s inherent in these professions,” she said. “The students who have participated in these opportunities cite them as transformative academic experiences that set them on a trajectory professionally. This studio will help continue that tradition for generations of our students.”