Dean Massey leads new university Design Review Committee

Republished from The University Record article New committee to help connect physical campus, institutional goals (September 22, 2025; by Chris Sebastian).

The university’s campuses are more than just spaces to sit, paths to walk and trees to shade — they are a vital component to achieving strategic success and attracting a talented academic community.

The newly established Design Review Committee, composed of U-M faculty, staff and alumni, will help the university strengthen that campus potential by providing input on the design of new buildings, major additions and landscape projects on all Ann Arbor campuses, including Michigan Medicine.

The committee will lean on design excellence to boost discovery and innovation, recruitment and retention, education and community-building.

“The character of our physical environment, the way it’s organized, planned and developed, is going to accelerate the achievement of institutional goals,” said Jonathan Massey, committee co-chair and dean of the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. “It has a crucial role in achieving our strategic objectives.”

Established through the office of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Geoff Chatas, the committee will have a voice early in the design process for major projects over $10 million and smaller projects with high-impact potential. The committee’s perspectives will connect academic, sustainability and accessibility efforts to principles outlined in U-M’s Look to Michigan vision and Campus Plan 2050.

“As we look ahead to the coming decades, it’s crucial that our physical spaces reflect and support our institutional mission,” Chatas said. “This committee will help us take a campus-wide view that aligns our design decisions with a broader vision. I’m excited to have this work begin.”

As the procurement process for buildings and other projects is decentralized, the new committee elevates the importance of taking a cohesive review of projects and how they fit into the overarching goals of the university.

“The Design Review Committee is an opportunity to expand U-M’s collaborative design process to further enhance design quality through constructive, objective feedback that can challenge the design team to find improved design solutions,” said committee member Deanna Mabry, associate director of design and university architect in Architecture, Engineering and Construction.

From an academic perspective, Massey is excited about the potential to expand how the physical components of U-M benefit the learning potential for students.

“It’s an increasing lateral connection between facilities and operations and the academic side of the university,” he said. “This represents the recognition in the last few years, the crystallizing, of university leadership that recognizes that the campus is a strategic asset.”

The committee makeup sets it up for success.

“One of the benefits of a multi-disciplinary design review committee is engaging in critique of not only individual new buildings and additions with respect to their individual designs but also in how those buildings contribute to the cohesive fabric of campus,” Mabry said.

The committee features faculty and staff from numerous schools and units, each with years of experience and perspectives. Former students, now in the workforce, will add valuable outside perspectives.

“It’s quite exciting that we have practicing alumni joining us,” Massey said. “They have built schools and museums and housing. They will bring that expertise.”

Moving forward, the committee will begin to see projects that are in the schematic design phase.

This is during the study or fact-finding stage, before a project has been given final approval. The committee will consider how the project aligns with university goals, sustainability objectives and other factors. They will then see it again further along in the design development, to consider the execution of the design related to materials, detailing, etc.

Massey said the committee has just started meeting, and the benefits will compound as it and the university develop project-to-project conversations. The committee isn’t just looking at single buildings, but how projects fit into the larger context of campus and organizational objectives.

“One of the main goals is to have the campus better attract people as part of our recruitment of students, faculty and staff,” Massey said. “They will have a better quality of life while at work. Or a connection between buildings. Their participation in the interdisciplinary life of a campus will be better.”

Design Review Committee

Executive Sponsor

• Geoff Chatas, executive vice president and chief financial officer

Co-Chairs

• Jonathan Massey, dean, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
• Marina Roelofs, assistant vice president, Architecture, Engineering, and Construction

Members

• Audrey Bennett, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design
• Gia Biagi, secretary of transportation, state of Illinois, former principal, urbanism, Studio Gang Architects
• Sue Gott, associate director of planning and communications, AEC
• Lars Graebner, associate professor of practice in architecture, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
• Ron Henry, executive director of facilities, planning, and operation, U-M Health
• Chad Jobin, DRC project manager
• Jaron Lubin, senior partner, Safdie Architects
• Deanna Mabry, associate director of design and university architect, AEC
• Benjamin Morse, director of strategy, Office of Campus Sustainability
• Fadi Musleh, assistant vice provost and chief strategist for Integrated Space, Academic, and Capital Planning
• Lisa Sauvé, assistant professor of practice in architecture, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
• Carla Swickerath, partner, Studio Libeskind