Dean’s Advisory Board

Alan Berkshire is chief administrative officer and general counsel at EP Wealth Advisors where he oversees the legal, compliance, operations, client service, partnership integration, and project management teams. Before joining EP Wealth Advisors, he retired after more than 20 years as a senior executive in the investment management industry. He served as the global chief operating officer for investments with Columbia Threadneedle Investments. Before that, he served as president – North America for Religare Global Asset Management and in a number of senior leadership roles for Nuveen Investments. Earlier in his career, Alan practiced law with the international law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he was a share partner in the Corporate & Transactions Group.

Gordon Carrier is founder and design principal of the global design firm Carrier Johnson + CULTURE in San Diego. Under his design direction, the firm has established a track record of award-winning projects in public and private market sectors. He is an active member of the regional design and development community and a passionate proponent of improving urban settings through the integration of quality architecture and design. He has been responsible for the design of 36 collegiate and higher education facilities, ranging from $20 million to $120 million, including the new home of Pitzer’s Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability. He is an active member of the San Diego business and civic community, serving on organizations such as the Young Presidents’ Organization, World Presidents’ Organization, LEAD San Diego, and the City of San Diego Board of Zoning Appeals.

Pankaj Duggal, AICP, AIA International Associate has three decades of diverse business, architecture, engineering, consulting, and construction experience in North America, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific. He partners with clients, industry leaders, and the project team at a strategic level to help facilitate the delivery of sustainable and innovative solutions. He brings multi-disciplinary project experience in various sectors including corporate, science & technology, education, mission-critical, industrial, aerospace, defense, institutional, and government. He has delivered projects in 47 U.S. states and 32 countries. He infuses a strong focus on leveraging inclusion and diversity and utilizes a collaborative decision-making style to create an engaging and inspiring culture. His areas of interest include strategy development, integrated design, project delivery, life safety and risk, total cost of ownership, and high-performance built environment. He has served in executive and senior leadership roles at Jensen Hughes and Jacobs.

Randy Howder is managing director of Gensler’s San Francisco office. He focuses on transforming clients’ organizations through new approaches to design, research, and experience. With a background in strategic consulting and workplace design initiatives for a diverse range of industry-leading clients, he questions how spaces work while striving to find ways to make them more effective and improve people’s lives. He has been a featured speaker at several international design conferences and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, writing about design and urban issues in the Bay Area and beyond. His work has been published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Interior Design, Metropolis, Fast Company, Forbes, and The Economist. In 2015, Randy was named one of the San Francisco Business Times’ 40 Under 40. He is an alumnus of the University of Michigan and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Katie Johnson is vice president and principal at AECOM, a Fortune 500 infrastructure consulting firm. She leads business operations and AECOM’s design-led management consultancy, Strategy+ in the central U.S. Her leadership approach draws on her expertise in design and business to translate bold ideas into tangible results. She has 20 years of experience integrating business and placemaking strategy with economics, capital planning, and implementation management. She has worked with complex corporate, government, and nonprofit sector stakeholder groups on visionary projects in Asia, Europe, and North America. Her clients have included the City of Detroit, Mott Foundation, Dow Chemical, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Korean International Trade Association. Skilled in communications and organizational management, she excels at harvesting diverse viewpoints to foster creative thinking and fuel innovative strategies. An architect and Detroit resident, she serves as vice president/president-elect of the American Institute of Architects Detroit.

Jamie Simchik is the principal of Simchik Planning and Development in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Initially offering clients real estate development advisory services, Jamie now owns and operates 200,000 square feet of commercial real estate with his family through the 100 Market Group portfolio. Additionally, his family developed and owns The Hotel Concord, a 38-room, boutique hotel. He recently opened an 8,000-square-foot coworking space, HRKNSScowork, which is supporting small businesses and growing the entrepreneurial ecosystem through Launch NH. Previously, he was a principal planner at Fort Hill Companies, an architectural, engineering, and urban planning firm. He was also a public engagement assistant with Regina Villa Associates undertaking public outreach for sewer separation and road reconstruction capital improvement projects in Massachusetts. He serves on the Board of Directors for Intown Concord and Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce. He is actively involved with the American Planning Association and Urban Land Institute.

Andrea Springer is the vice president and director of digital engineering solutions at CDM Smith’s Digital & Information Office. Architect. Technologist. Planner. Artist. Educator. Innovator. All the paths she has taken throughout her more than 25-year career have led her to her current work: bridging the physical and digital worlds. She succeeds in taking complex challenges and creating cohesive digital strategies and deliverables. She leads a group at the forefront of new and established technologies. This diverse team of experts works within a range of technologies — from reality capture and virtual reality to computational design, data analytics, and more. She believes innovation begins with curiosity and is rooted in the desire to explore, experiment, and improve. With a passion for materials science, expertise in a variety of digital platforms, and a love of continuous learning, she approaches her role with a natural curiosity and open inclusion of ideas and solutions.

Dan Swartz is retired from his position as the development principal for the Quadrangle Development Co. Throughout his career, he was involved in development, construction, and finance. He has held prestigious positions with the Quadrangle Development Co., David Geffen Co., Hileman Co. LLC, McCormick Investment Trust of Chicago, Park/Fifth Partners, Summa Corp., Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, and First Chicago Corp. He is a member of various organizations covering architecture, design, energy, and urban development. He is a board member of the Southern California Institute of Architecture, FilmLA and the Downtown Center Business Improvement District. He has served as the chairman of the Los Angeles Community College District Bond Oversite Committee and the City of Rancho Mirage Historic Preservation Commission. He is a founding board member of Preservation Mirage.

William “Bill” Taubman is chief operating officer of Taubman, a company engaged in the ownership, management, and leasing of regional, super-regional, and outlet shopping centers in the U.S. and Asia. He is responsible for the company’s U.S. development, operations, and leasing functions, and he oversees Taubman Asia. He joined the company in 1986 from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. in New York, where he was a financial analyst specializing in mergers and acquisitions. He has a bachelor’s degree in religious studies, philosophy, and Russian studies from Brown University and a master’s in philosophy from Corpus Christi College of Cambridge University, Cambridge, England. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT). He is past chairman and chair of the Development Committee for the racial justice organization New Detroit. He also serves on the board of Governors for the Museum of Arts & Design in New York.