College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs
601 W. Nedderman Drive
Suite 203
Arlington, TX 76019-0108
Leadership
Meet the leadership team that continues to advance the growth of the CAPPA community
Dr. Ming-Han Li
Dean
Dr. Li is an academic landscape architect and urban planning leader. Dr. Li’s unique strength is his interdisciplinary professional background. He is a certified planner, professional engineer and professional landscape architect, with a bachelor of science degree in agricultural engineering (National Taiwan University), master of science in civil engineering (The University of Texas at Austin), both master of landscape architecture and PhD in urban and regional sciences from Texas A&M University (TAMU).
Dr. Karabi Bezboruah
Associate Dean for Faculty Success and Research - Director of the Planning and Public Affairs Ph.D. programs
Dr. Bezboruah researches cross-sector collaboration, nonprofit management and leadership, strategic management, community development, cross-sector comparisons, NGOs - organizational role, gender role, leadership role & NGO effectiveness.
Charles MacBride
Assistant Dean for Student Success and Operations
Charles MacBride is an educator and practicing architect. He has earned awards for teaching, research, design, and master planning, including a recent UTA President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, a Sustainability Leadership and Innovation honor, and an AIA South Dakota Honor Award.
Dr. Austin Allen
Assistant Dean for Community Engagement
Dr. Allen previously served as an associate professor in Landscape Architecture and an associate professor in Film and Communication at other universities to combine the two fields into his research.
Dr. Diane Jones Allen
Director of the Landscape Architecture program
She is a dedicated landscape architect and program director with expertise in environmental justice, transportation access, and community-driven design, known for developing accredited academic programs and leading impactful research initiatives.
Dr. David Coursey
Chair, Public Affairs and Planning - Director of the Master of Public Administration program
Dr. Coursey researches public management, especially public/private comparative research, public service motivation, organizational environments, public personnel retention and recruitment.
Dr. David Franco
Director of the School of Architecture
His research focuses on how social inequalities and political conflicts affect the built environment, with a particular emphasis on modern and contemporary architecture. This framework informs both his award-winning creative practice—centered on social infrastructure projects, affordable housing, and public spaces—and his scholarly research.
Dennis Chiessa
Graduate Architecture Program Director
Dennis Chiessa, AIA, is an architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at CAPPA UTA. He examines the reciprocal impact of design and communities through creative practice, research, and teaching.
Julia Lindgren
Undergraduate Architecture Program Director
Julia Lindgren is an Assistant Professor at CAPPA UTA, where she teaches design-build studios and seminars focused on social equity and community engagement. Her research explores how design processes can be used to restructure the distribution of power within cities.
Dr. Deden Rukmana
Director of the Master of City and Regional Planning program
Dr. Rukmana is a professor at UTA. His research centers on homelessness, health disparities, and food insecurity. He is also interested in international development planning, particularly on development challenges in Indonesian cities and megacities in the Global South. Dr. Rukmana is the Global Planning Education Association Network (GPEAN) secretary from 2022 to 2026.
Dr. Barbara Marini
Director of the Interior Design program
Her research focuses on leadership, creativity, and innovation that seeks to inform organizations and institutions by speaking on design and industry-related issues, serving on numerous professional panels, and authoring that has recognized her work and service to the profession and design education.
Alan Klein
Director of the Institute of Urban Studies (IUS)
His work broadly provides planning, development, and design services that address the unique challenges of first-tier suburbs and rural communities throughout Texas. His specialties include economic development, market studies, downtown and neighborhood revitalization plans, comprehensive land use planning, and communication facilitation.
Dr. Qisheng Pan
Director of the Center for Transportation, Equity, Decisions and Dollars (CTEDD)
Dr. Pan is a UTA professor at the Department of Public Affairs and Planning. He is also the director of CTEDD, the USDOT Tier 1 University Transportation Centers (UTC) program at UTA. He had been a full Professor in the Department of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy (UPEP) at Texas Southern University (TSU) since 2011.
Cheryl Donaldson
Director of Academics and Student Affairs - Advising Supervisor
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis in Urban Design, and a Master's in Public Administration with a focus on Urban Management. Her specialties lie in urban policy and design.
Dr. Gustavo Monzón
College Business Officer
He is a dynamic higher education administrator with a proven track record in strategic planning, enrollment management, student success initiatives, and academic resource planning.
