Following years of contributions to the College’s research and strategic initiatives, Gibbs College shares that Associate Dean for Research and External Engagement Angela M. Person, PhD, will step down from her position at Gibbs College as she moves to Tucson with her family, effective June 30, 2026. She has accepted a faculty position with the University of Arizona College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.
Person has served as an associate dean since 2024, before which she originated the role of Director of Research Initiatives and Strategic Planning, beginning in 2016. As President’s Associates Second Century Presidential Professor, Associate Professor, and proud alumnus of the University of Oklahoma (OU), Person has led and played a key role in many significant initiatives that inform the reputations of both the Division of Architecture and the College itself.
She organized the national 2010 Creating Making Forum and its 2014 reprise of the same name, where the ideas for the OU Division of Architecture’s (DivA) Creating_Making curriculum coalesced. After 2016, many of Person’s scholarly activities played out through the American School Project, a DivA faculty initiative that contextualizes the University of Oklahoma’s impact on the teaching and practice of architecture in the United States and beyond. The 2020 “Schools of Thought” National Conference, hosted by OU and co-organized by Person, explored the historic context for OU’s teaching alongside contemporary modes of design education. With her co-editors, she shaped the award-winning 2020 book Renegades: Bruce Goff and The American School of Architecture, and she was instrumental in establishing the partnership with OU Libraries to create the American School Archive.
This work renewed interest in the OU College of Architecture’s legacy as a place of architectural innovation advanced by “renegades” like Bruce Goff, Herb Greene, and others in the 1940s and 1950s, and the contemporary professional practices of the likes of Donald MacDonald, FAIA; Arthur Dyson, FAIA; and Brian Phillips, FAIA. More recently, Dr. Person co-led a team in realizing “Outre West,” a major exhibition at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center that celebrated OU Architecture alumni who settled into the San Francisco Bay Area to practice the other-worldly approach to architecture known today as The American School.
Person has authored, co-authored, or co-edited five books including the forthcoming International Handbook of Heritage and Affect: Designing and Experiencing Places of Heritage, and numerous journal publications. Recently, she co-curated “Capital Brutalism,” the exhibition hosted at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Her award-winning work has been generously supported by the Smithsonian Institution, National Endowment for the Arts, National Building Museum, Graham Foundation, and more, and recognized by the Journal of Architectural Education, Society of Architectural Historians, College Art Association, Center for Architecture, and others.
“Angela has been a valued partner to the Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships, bringing an interdisciplinary lens and a collaborative spirit that consistently strengthened our work,” stated Carol L. Silva, PhD, Senior Associate Vice President for Research and Partnerships, University of Oklahoma. “Her ability to connect ideas, people, and purpose leaves a lasting mark on our research community.”
“Gibbs College, in its current run of successes, shows Dr. Person’s fingerprints in countless ways,” said the Dean of Gibbs College Hans E. Butzer, FAIA. “She has raised the college’s research profile at the Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships, creating opportunities for college faculty success. Mentoring assistant and even full professors, while modeling the ideal behavior of a senior faculty member, has always remained a hallmark of her character.”
Person reinvented the college’s faculty research support framework through the Program for Research Enhancement (PRE). She designed the Oculus news archive and accompanying newsletter, the college’s archive of achievements and conduit for public communications since 2017. Under her leadership, the college’s website and social media presence drew the admiring attention of university leadership and college deans. She shaped or edited numerous prospective donor proposals during a period of significant development growth. Generous with her time and expertise, she has assisted staff with college event planning for a decade and instituted the college’s faculty and staff awards efforts that have garnered college, university, state, and national praise and accolades for numerous faculty and staff.
Gibbs College Director of the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design John Harris, PhD, emphasized, “In college leadership meetings, we’ve recently been discussing how far our college has come in the last decade; that our research impact and innovative curricula now compete with the best in the nation. There is no way this happens without Angela Person. Full stop.”
Added Hank Jenkins-Smith, PhD, Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (IPPRA) at the University of Oklahoma, “Angela is an exceptional collaborator in large-scale, Mult institutional research efforts. Her leadership and vision were instrumental in shaping several of our largest research initiatives for national impact, and we are grateful for the intellect, partnership, and dedication she brought to this work.”
Equally important are the myriad ways in which Person has been shaping the success of University of Oklahoma undergraduate and graduate students. She reconfigured Gibbs College’s PhD program in 2018 and, with her colleague Dr. Randy Peppler, has successfully mentored nearly 20 undergraduate students in paid, student-led research experiences. With Dean Butzer, she has co-taught nearly 1,000 Gibbs College freshmen, providing these and many other students with a vocabulary for self-awareness and the tools of productive collaboration and professional success.
In 2019, Person and her then-graduate student helped begin the revival of Telesis, the College’s student-run journal publication. Telesis has garnered the national Douglas Haskell Prize for Student Journals as the best architecture student publication in the United States three times under her leadership.
“Angela’s impact on Gibbs College is both profound and enduring,” offered Gibbs College Associate Dean for Academics and College Administration Suchi Bhattacharjee, PhD. “Her leadership, mentorship, and vision have shaped our research culture and strengthened our community in ways that will continue to benefit us for years to come.”
Further reinforcing that she’s been the college’s “Swiss Army Knife”: sharp, versatile, indispensable, and invaluable, the College has plans to split Person’s current associate dean position into two separate positions: Associate Dean for Research and Assistant Dean overseeing strategic initiatives.
Person has been a rock of support and key strategic partner to Dean Butzer and Gibbs College for nearly two decades. Her presence in Gould Hall will be missed.
The search for a new Associate Dean for Research will commence in late spring 2026.
Following years of contributions to the College’s research and strategic initiatives, Gibbs College shares that Associate Dean for Research and External Engagement Angela M. Person, PhD, will step down from her position at Gibbs College as she moves to Tucson with her family, effective June 30, 2026.
On April 24, 2026, the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture hosted its annual Graduate Student Showcase, a celebration of research, design innovation, and creative exploration across all graduate programs within the College.
The Gibbs College of Architecture celebrates fifth-year architecture student Haley Praytor, who has been recognized at the national level for her design work. In early March, Haley received a Graduate Division Award of Merit for her submission to the 2025 Metal Building Manufacturers Association student design competition.
