The Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to recognize Tahsin Tabassum, a recent graduate of the college’s Master of Regional and City Planning program and current doctoral student at the University of California, Irvine, for receiving the prestigious 2024–2025 American Planning Association (APA) Outstanding Student Award. This national honor highlights her exceptional academic achievement and her commitment to advancing equitable and justice-centered planning.
Tahsin’s recognition by the APA follows another significant accomplishment: she was named the 2024 recipient of the Ed McClure Award for Best Master’s Student Paper by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). Her award-winning paper, “Exploring Transportation Justice and Equity through the Transportation Justice Threshold Index Framework in Municipalities of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma,” impressed the selection committee with its innovative approach and rigorous analysis of transportation equity.
During her time at Gibbs College, Tahsin was supervised and mentored by Dr. Ladan Mozaffarian, under whose guidance she developed a strong and deeply informed foundation in equitable and justice-oriented planning. Her scholarship has been shaped by both her personal experiences as an international student navigating transportation barriers in the U.S. and her broader commitment to creating more inclusive and sustainable mobility systems.
Her academic path—beginning with a Bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, continuing through her master’s studies at OU, and now advancing into doctoral work—demonstrates her steadfast dedication to improving urban systems and advancing transportation.
Gibbs College extend its warmest congratulations to Tahsin on these outstanding achievements. We look forward to following the impact of her future scholarship and leadership.
The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture is proud to announce that Model Schools in the Model City, authored by Director of the Institute for Quality Communities, Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., has been named one of ten finalists for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize for Best New Book in African American History and Culture.
This semester, students in the LA 5535 Studio: Ecological Planning and Design, led by Prof. Afsana Sharmin, took on an ambitious hypothetical project to redesign key parts of the OU campus. Their mission: to tackle the critical real-world challenge of stormwater management through innovative green design.
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
