Chingwen Cheng has been appointed as the new director of the Stuckeman School at Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture. Cheng is currently the program head and associate professor of landscape architecture, urban design, and environmental design at Arizona State University’s Design School.

Announcing the news, Penn State described Cheng as “a climate justice design educator and advocate for climate actions through co-designing nature-based solutions with communities.” Among Cheng’s engagement with sustainable design is her founding and directing of Hydro-GI Lab, which focuses on the evaluation of both the design process and outcomes of nature-based solutions for climate justice design.

“Climate change impacts and systemic injustice are persistent challenges that many communities around the world are facing,” Cheng said in a statement. “Design practices and scholarship must address these challenges as we hold the power to shape the built environment. After nearly three decades of schooling, practice, education, and scholarship in the design field, I am uniquely positioned to bridge theory and practice, and dedicated to strengthening networks of alliances in climate action through co-design with communities and cultivating stewardship to address inequity and sustaining just and resilient communities.”

Over the past ten years, Cheng has received more than half a million dollars in research funding and has published 19 peer-reviewed journal articles and nine book chapters. Beyond her academic accolades, Cheng is also a registered professional landscape architect and LEED-accredited professional specializing in watershed planning, stormwater management, low-impact development, and community design.

News of Cheng’s appointment comes in the same week that Julia Czerniak was chosen as the next dean of the University of Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning. Earlier this month, meanwhile, Heather Woofter was named the new dean of UT Austin’s School of Architecture, while Penn State named Frank Jacobus as head of the Stuckeman School’s Department of Architecture.