University of Oklahoma Regional + City Planning Alumna Gina Sofola, who heads her own project management consulting firm in Oklahoma City, sought out RCPL to expand her reach and abilities.
“I found that I needed another addition to my education and to my skillset,” says Sofola.
“OU was a good fit for me as an adult student. It offered a very flexible schedule for me, it offered the ability to marry student life with the life of an adult and a businesswoman.”
Sofola lists the excellence of the professors and the quality of the study abroad opportunities the program offered as highlights from her experience. According to Sofola, the study abroad trip she took with the program gave her and her classmates “the opportunity to apply what we learned to tangible, real-life situations.”
Through her time in the program, Sofola says she was prepared to address problems in the real world.
“I’ve had the opportunity to see that with the way we’ve built our communities and the way we’ve built our cities in the past, some of the unintended consequences have really been detrimental to our society,” says Sofola.
“You come away understanding that the problems that exist are serious, and the solutions really matter.”
Sofola wants to use her skills and experience to impact Oklahoma City, where she grew up, and especially its African American community, “so that they can have a seat at the table and have a voice in shaping their community.”
Visit her website to learn more.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture congratulates Thinh "Henry" Duong, a master's student in the Division of Interior Design, for earning first place in the 2026 Robert Bruce Thompson Annual Student Light Fixture Design Competition.
Gibbs College of Architecture Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) Director and Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design (PLAD) faculty member Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., recently published a new book, Collective Yearning: Black Women Artists from the Zimmerli Art Museum.
In May, students from the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture's Architecture, Environmental Design, and Interior Design programs participated in an intensive five-day Studio in Residence at Taliesin West, the iconic winter home and desert laboratory of Frank Lloyd Wright.
