Salma Akter Surma, a Ph.D. student in Gibbs College’s Planning, Design and Construction program, recently won second place in the Graduate & Postdoc Research and Scholarly Activity Day Poster Competition. Each year, the OU Graduate College sponsors this event to offer graduate students and postdocs from all disciplines the opportunity to exhibit their research.
The competition provides OU graduate students and postdocs with a professional development opportunity to present research and engage with peers and mentors. This year’s competition was highly competitive, with over 32 graduate students and 8 postdocs participating.
Surma (center) with Liz Karr (right), associate dean of the Graduate College, and Jaime Hough (left), director of graduate student and postdoc retention and support.
The competition took place on March 1 in the Gould Hall Buskuhl Gallery. Surma’s poster, titled “Sheltering Hope and Protection: Examining Child-Friendly Spaces in Refugee Camps for Children’s Well-Being,” was awarded second place.
Surma and her poster, “Sheltering Hope and Protection: Examining Child-Friendly Spaces in Refugee Camps for Children’s Well-Being.”
Her poster explored how UNICEF-recommended Child-Friendly Spaces contribute to the psycho-social, physical and educational aspects of refugee camps, as well as the well-being of refugee children globally. The purpose of a Child-Friendly Space is to allow refugee children who are caught in a crisis to gather in a safe environment and get back to a protective and healthy living space in the emergency context.
Congratulations to Salma Akter Surma for this achievement!
Robert L. Wesley, a pioneering architect and beloved mentor, has died at age 88. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Wesley joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in 1964 and became the firm's first Black partner in 1984. Throughout his career, he contributed to significant architectural projects while maintaining a strong commitment to civic engagement and professional mentorship.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to celebrate a series of recent accomplishments by Dr. Jim Collard, Professor of Practice in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design, whose work continues to shape conversations around Indigenous economic development nationally and internationally.
University of Oklahoma Gibbs College of Architecture Dean Hans E. [PA1.1]Butzer returned to one of his most significant works on December 15, joining survivors and past and present board members for the groundbreaking of a $15.8 million expansion of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.
