Vanessa Morrison, an award-winning urban planner, has agreed to serve as the new interim director of the Institute for Quality Communities. The appointment was announced by Gibbs College Dean Hans Butzer and made effective on Sept. 1, 2023.
According to Butzer, “Vanessa Morrison is the ideal choice for leading the IQC in this interim period. Her experience and expertise will nurture the existing commitments to our engagement partners, ensuring the IQC’s impact will continue to benefit communities across this great state of Oklahoma.”
Morrison previously served as the associate director of the IQC. Throughout her expansive career, she has led several nationally recognized projects related to equity, inclusion and the physical and cultural legacies of space. She has been featured on multiple platforms for her work, including Architecture Magazine’s Game Changer series, NPR Story Corps and the Library of Congress and Fast Company.
At Gibbs College, she engages students in a variety of hands-on social and environmental equity projects. During the spring 2023 semester, she led Environmental Design students in the creation of reuse design concepts for the historic Jewel Theater in northeast Oklahoma City. In 2021, she worked with EnD students to develop revitalization plans for local community members of Tullahassee, Oklahoma’s oldest surviving Black township.
Morrison expressed her excitement for her new role, “An unshakeable foundation has been built over the years that has positioned the IQC to continue its strong mission in serving Oklahoma communities and students. I’m honored to work alongside our amazing team in a leadership role during this period of transition and great opportunity.”
The IQC was previously led by Shane Hampton, who began serving as executive director in 2015. Hampton has stepped down from the role and accepted a new position at Main Street America as senior manager, Thriving Communities.
Please join us in congratulating Morrison!
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.
