Past Events
2025
SPDC SPEAKER SERIES: Red Cedar Renaissance, Perspectives Across Disciplines
September 4, 2025 | 5:00PM-7:00PM
Eric Helzer, Principal, Advanced Redevelopment Solutions
Jason Hockstok, Vice President of Planning and Development, Continental Real Estate Companies
Andy Fedewa, Principal Planner, City of Lansing Economic Development and Planning
Eric Iversen, Senior Project Manager, PEA Group
LAAAB DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES: Balancing Preservation with Access and Public Use
October 2, 2025 | 6:00PM-8:00PM
Mark Hershberger, PLA, Founder, Hershberger Design
Dan Wenk, PLA, National Park Service
Dan Lord, PLA, Chief of Finance and Operations, Michigan Department of Natural Resources
2024
LA DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI: MSU to the MI-DNR, A Career Prospective
February 7, 2024 | 1:30PM-2:30PM
William C. Pierce, ASLA, DCA, Michigan Department of Natural Resource
Science+Design, How Workplace Environment Affects Productivity
March 18, 2024 | 3:00PM-4:30PM
Gabor Nagy, Ph.D., MCR, Global Workplace Research, Meta
LAAAB DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER SERIES: "River for All" Grand Rapids, Michigan
September 19, 2024 | 6:00PM-8:00PM
Photo Gallery
Nicole Horst, Co-President and Principal, Wenk Associates
Trevor Bosworth, Principal, VIRDIS Design Group
SuLin Kotowicz, President, American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)
2023
LA DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI: Olmsted's 1865 Yosemite Report and Personal Reflection
February 2, 2023 | 1:30PM-3:00PM
Don Fox, FASLA, Nation Park Service
Industry Experience and Personal Reflection
March 22, 2023 | 5:00PM-6:30PM
Photo Gallery
Mike VanGessel, Founder & CEO, Rockford Construction
Science in Design: The Convergence of Science and Design Through Neuroaesthetics
March 28, 2023 | 4:30PM-5:50PM
Mike Peterson, President, Visionary Design Marketing
125TH 'LANNIVERSARY' KEYNOTE SPEAKER: The Landscape of Future History
October 18, 2023 | 6:30PM-8:00PM
David A. Rubin, PLA, FASLA, FAAR, Founding Principal, DAVID RUBIN Land Collective
2022
Biomorphic Urbanism & The Future of Cities
February 3, 2022 | 5:30-7:00PM
Peter Kindel, Director of Urban Design and Planning, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Improving Safety and Quality Through Evidence-Based Healthcare Design
February 23, 2022 | 3:00-4:30PM
Anjali Joseph, Director for Health Facilities Design and Testing
Natural Qi Energy - How it Impacts You from Feng Shui Perspectives
April 7, 2022 | 10:30AM-12:00PM
Alexander Ho, Co-Author Feng Shui Stories Around the World
Centering Critical Discourses in Gentrification, Displacement and Alternative Futures
December 1, 2022 5:00PM-6:15PM
Authors: Ashley Hernandez, Jeffrey S. Lowe, Deyanira Nevárez Martínez, Erualdo Gonzáles Romero & Michelle E. Zuñiga
2021
Why Latino Vendor Markets Matter: Selected Case Studies of California and Texas
January 27, 2021
Edna Ledesma, Assistant Professor, Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, University of Wisconsin Madison
LA DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI: Embracing Spaces / Changing Places
February 4, 2021
Robert ‘Bob’ Ford, FASLA, Founding Chair, MSU Landscape Architecture Alumni & Advisory Board; Founder and Partner, Landscape Architects & Planners, Inc.
LA DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI: Challenges and Opportunities in Post-Pandemic Public Space Design and Planning
March 4, 2021
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Ernest C. Wong, PLA, FASLA, APA, Founding Principal and President, Site Design Group, LTD.
Racial Disparities, Urban Form and Transportation Expenditures
April 8, 2021
Prentiss Dantzler, Assistant Professor, Urban Studies Institute, Georgia State University
Lessons Learned from a Lifetime Creating the Built Environment
April 14, 2021
Joel Altman, Chairman and Co-CEO of The Altman Companies
Affordable Housing Opportunities with Mass Timber
October 6, 2021 | 5:00-6:30PM
Jeff Spiritos, Spiritos Properties
The Detroit Waterfront: Charting a Just and Equitable Future
October 14, 2021 | 6:00PM-7:30PM
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Elnora Austell, President, E. Austell Associates
Nate Trevethan, PLA, ASLA, RLA, Principal, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
Mark Wallace, President & CEO, Detroit Riverfront Conservancy
Landscape, Health and Technology
November 4, 2021 | 5:00-6:30PM
William Sullivan, Ph.D., University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Chun-Yen Chang, Ph.D., National Taiwan University
Caring for Caregivers through Evidence-Based Design
November 16, 2021 | 4:00-5:30PM
Lesa Lorusso, PhD, MBA, Allied AIA, ASID, RID, NCIDQ, Healthcare Director of Research and Innovation, Gresham Smith
2020
LA DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI: Collaborations: You're Not All That!
February 6, 2020
Debra Guenther, Partner and Landscape Architect, Mithun
Building a COVID-19 Alternate Care Facility
September 10, 2020
Jack Brierton, Engineer, Clark Construction Group - Chicago, LLC.
Social Equity in a Post-COVID-19 World: A Designer's Perspective
October 22, 2020
Alma Du Solier, Landscape Architect, and Studio Director, Hood Design Studio
Billy Fleming, Wilks Family Director, The McHarg Center, UPenn Weitzman School of Design
Kona Gray, FASLA, PLA, Principal at EDSA
Inclusive Design and Diversity
November 5, 2020
Linda Nussbaumer, PhD, NCIDQ, IDEC, Professor Emerita, South Dakota State University; Adjunct Professor, Radford University
2019
Residential Development and Construction
February 13, 2019
Summary
Bernard Glieberman, Chairman of Governmental Affairs & Public Policy, HRS Communities
Karen Schroeder, Executive Vice President and Partner, Mayberry Homes
Michael Stoskopf, Executive Officer, Home Builders Association of South East Michigan
Desiree Davis (not pictured), Vice President and Division Manager, Ryan Homes
Plant Passion, Roberto Burle Marx and Raymond Jungles
Speaker: Raymond Jungles, FASLA, Founder, Raymond Jungles, Inc. (RJI)
Date: September 19, 2019
Accelerating Company Strategy with a Dynamic Built Environment
Speaker: John Beeder, retired President and CEO, American Greetings
Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Summary: Less "Me" More "We" Motto
Building Consensus through Collaboration in Difficult Settings and Diverse Communities
Speaker: Stacie Smith, associate managing director and a senior mediator at the Consensus Building Institute
Date: Thursday, October 24, 2019
Multiple Facets of a Life in Design
Speaker: Valerie Wright, Principle and Senior Interior Designer, Diekema Hamann Architecture & Engineering
Date: November 7, 2019
2018
Transformational Developments – The Story of East Lansing’s City Center District
Speakers: Mark Bell, CEO and co-Founder, Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors; James Litwin, Vice President of Construction
Date: Friday, April 20, 2018
Summary: Transforming East Lansing
2017
Challenges and Opportunities Ahead For Single-Family and Multi-Family Builders
Speaker: Alan Scott, President and Owner of Alan F Scott, Inc., and Former Co-Founder and Managing Member of the NRP Group
Date: Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Summary: Looking Ahead for Home Builders
2016
Re-imagining the Building Process and Building Experience
Speaker: Douglas Maibach, Chairman of Barton Malow Enterprises, and Executive Vice President of Barton Malow Company
Date: Thursday, March 24, 2016
Summary: Building Innovations
MSU, Urban Planning and Cities: A Career Prospective
Speaker: Scott Adams, Deputy City Manager of the City of Las Vegas
Date: Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016
Summary: Scott Adams Career Prospective
Downtown Grand Rapids Revitalization
Speaker: Samuel Cummings, Principal and Managing Partner for CWD Real Estate Investment
Date: Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016
Summary: Revitalizing Grand Rapids
2015
Mixed-Use Case Study: East End Midland
Speaker: Pat Gillespie, Chief Visionary, Founder and President, Gillespie Group
Date: Friday, April 24, 2015
Summary: Mixed-Use Case Study
Reusing Commercial Sites: A Case Study
Speaker: Joseph Maguire, President and CEO of Wolverine Development Corporation, and President of the Society of Environmentally Responsible facilities
Date: Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015
Summary: Reusing Commercial Sites
The World Trade Center More than Just a Redevelopment
Speaker: Peter Riguardi, President of JLL’s New York Tri-state region
Date: Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015
Summary: One World Trade Center
2014
Homebuilding in Michigan: Surviving the Cycles
Speakers: Robert and Karen Schroeder, Co-Owners of Mayberry Homes, and President and Vice President, respectively
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014
Summary: Surviving the Cycles
The Christman Company: 120 Years of Innovation
Speaker: Jay Smith, LEED AP, Executive Vice President of Construction Operations and Corporate Safety Officer, The Christman Company
Date: Thursday, March 27, 2014
Summary: 120 Years of Innovation
2013
Real Estate Development and Construction: Journey from Boji Tower to Present
Speaker: Ron Boji, President of The Boji Group
Date: Thursday, November 7, 2013
Summary: Boji Tower to Today
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