Alumni Insights
Navigating Your Future at Taubman College

Donald is a Planner Manager, and the Urban Design Studio Lead in Houston Public Works. He is an AICP Planner and an Associate of the American Institute of Architects (assoc. AIA). He has worked around the country in both the public and private sectors. Originally from Ghana, he obtained his Bachelor’s and Post Graduate Degrees in Architecture from KNUST University. He later moved to the U.S. in 2005 and graduated from Taubman College, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2008 with dual master’s degrees in urban design & urban planning. While in Ann Arbor he also obtained a Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies. He has been nicknamed ‘Donaldo da Vinci’ for his ability to combine art, design, science, and engineering within the built environment. He also uses his God-given skill as an artist and orator to bring clarity and simplicity to complex concepts to help engage multiple audiences.

Madeeha’s interests as an urban designer lie at the intersection of built environment, geopolitics and spatial mechanisms of territories. Hailing from Kashmir, Madeeha’s design sensibilities are influenced by ways in which our cities are invisibly colonized, thus reducing our right to them. She strongly believes in participatory design practices to promote resilience, equity, social justice and sustainability. She strives to empower urban design as a profession that breaks disciplinary silos and is central to an understanding of today’s world. Through multi-scalar mapping and design approaches, Madeeha aims to unpack the dynamic of constant flux that regions experience due to a multitude of internal and external factors, in the end to be tied to their place and communities.