The University of Oklahoma is the home of athletic and academic champions. A place where ambitious dreams are realized, and success and service are one. Our campuses are common ground for people whose ideas will change the world and our doors are open to all.
Be a part of something BIG when Sooners around the world unite for our fourth annual #OUGivingDay on April 13, 2021.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is determined in its commitment to educate Gibbs College students through out-of-classroom learning experiences. This year, Gibbs College is dedicating Giving Day in memory of a very special advocate for travel study, the late Professor Nick Harm, who passed away in May 2020.
It is nearly impossible to capture in words how influential Nick was in so many ways and for so many lives in our College. He arrived at OU in 1981 to begin his teaching career and only recently retired in 2016. In the intervening 35 years, Nick inspired and supported students and faculty to explore and stay curious about the world around them. He served as Director of the Division of Architecture and Interim Dean, and helped start the Division of Architecture Professional Advisory Board, in whom he inspired a dedication to raising funds to support student travel scholarships. His commitment to learning through travel was based on his own life changing experiences in the Army, as well as traveling the world and teaching in Saudi Arabia. Nick even led one of the largest groups of OU students to study in Rome in 2015.
If you knew Prof. Harm, you know he loved an adventure! Pictured above with his family in Egypt, Thailand, Switzerland, Italy, and more.
In anticipation of a time when our students can again safely learn through out-of-classroom experiences, the Division of Architecture Professional Advisory Board is fundraising to rename their entire endowment and all the scholarships generated by it after Nick. The new Nick Harm Memorial Travel Study Scholarship will ensure that Nick’s incredible legacy is forever honored by supporting students’ travel study aspirations in all Gibbs College programs.
Note: You may indicate which of our seven programs — Architecture, Construction Science, Environmental Design, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Regional and City Planning, or Urban Design — you would like your Giving Day donation to support.
Each year, students from all of our programs explore Oklahoma, the U.S. and beyond. Recent travel study experiences have taken our students abroad to Italy, Zambia, and Uganda, as well as closer to home — including OKC, Waurika and Chickasha.
Check out the videos below to learn more about travel study at Gibbs College!
We are so grateful to our sponsors Mimi Harm and Acme Brick who have made this event possible with up to $10,000 gift matching.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture professor and Institute for Quality Communities Director Dr. Amber N. Wiley’s book, Model Schools in the Model City: Race, Planning, and Education in the Nation’s Capital, has received two major honors from the Urban History Association.
Research initiated by Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture alumna Naila Hasan during her master’s studies at the University of Oklahoma has continued through faculty collaboration and resulted in a peer-reviewed publication in HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce Esther Thorp, Tyler Boydstun and Chukwuma Nwokoye as the winners of the 2026 Construction Innovation Translation Hub (CIThub) Student Ideas Competition.
