Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State's undergraduate program in landscape architecture is listed among the top 15 programs in the country by a national publication that promotes quality design education.
DesignIntelligence, a monthly journal published by Greenway Communications for the Design Futures Council, released the rankings in its sixth edition of "America's Best Architecture and Design Schools." MSU was 15th out of 66 programs the publication ranked, with Ohio State University topping the list.
"I think the program earned this recognition through the commitment and dedication of the faculty to teaching," said department head Cameron Man. He said it is the first time the publication has added rankings of landscape architecture to its ongoing assessments of architecture and interior design programs.
"This honor is a positive reflection on the quality of our landscape architecture faculty and the department's academic program," said Vance Watson, vice president of the university's Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine.
"The program's recent reaccreditation for the maximum term also indicates its quality," added Watson, whose division includes landscape architecture.
The Atlanta-based Greenway Group includes two divisions: Greenway Consulting, which performs consulting services; and Greenway Communications, which develops think-tank conferences and publications. The content of DesignIntelligence is aimed at leaders seeking to improve the built environment and the design professions.
"While no ranking system is perfect, this does provide a way to celebrate excellence toward a new ascendant condition in landscape architecture," said James P. Cramer, Greenway Consulting's chairman.
The Greenway Group works with professional firms, planners, architects, engineers, designers, contractors, facility owners, manufacturers, and related professional and cultural organizations that concentrate on improvement of the environment.
"We want to aggregate the subjective views of individual practitioners, inspire and inform local conversations about the components of a quality design education, and help prospective students make arguably the single most important career choice they will ever make," added Cramer.
DesignIntelligence America's complete listing of its 15 best landscape architecture schools include, in order, Ohio State, Georgia, Kansas State, Pennsylvania State, Louisiana State, Cornell, Purdue, California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo and Michigan State (tie), Ball State and California State Polytechnic-Pomona (tie), Iowa State and Massachusetts-Amherst (tie), Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and Mississippi State.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact Professor Man at (662) 325-3012 or cman@lalc.msstate.edu.