Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that alumnus Gary Armbruster, FAIA, ALEP (M.Arch. ‘00) was one of five individuals nationally named an "ICON in Education." Learning By Design magazine, in partnership with Tarkett North America, is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 ICON in Education Design Awards, recognizing five professionals whose vision and conviction have challenged the status quo to transform educational environments and positively impacted learners, educators, and communities across North America.
Armbruster was selected for the award because of his strong commitment to community service and educational advocacy, which is exemplified in his most recognized project, Positive Tomorrows school in Oklahoma City. Positive Tomorrows is Oklahoma’s only tuition-free school and social service agency that serves unhoused families. In this project, Armbruster integrates a trauma-informed approach to design, which aids in the creation of a school environment that meets the needs of the children it serves.
As an Accredited Learning Environment Planner (ALEP), Armbruster has demonstrated his passion for education design in his work, as well as in speaking at national conferences for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Association for Learning Environments (A4LE). He is consistently working to improve public policy through collaboration with the Oklahoma School Security Commission to create new state laws that improve school safety standards in addition to developing tools and frameworks in education used by professionals across the state.
Gibbs College of Architecture congratulates Gary Armbruster, FAIA for earning the ICON in Education Design award.
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.
