UP alumnus named dean of Cal Poly Pomona environmental design college

Mary Anne Alabanza Akers, PhD, earned her B.A. in Sociology from the University of the Philippines. CAL POLY

University of the Philippines alumnus Mary Anne Alabanza Akers was appointed dean of the College of Environmental Design at Cal Poly Pomona, becoming the first Filipino American and the first Asian American woman to lead the college.

Alabanza Akers began her tenure in July 2022 at the California public university institution, which runs programs in architecture, visual communication design and art history, landscape architecture, urban and regional planning and regenerative studies.

“Throughout her career, she has been a champion for student success, led efforts to foster diversity, inclusion and educational equity, bolstered community engagement, and established a broad record of innovation in academic and scholarly programs,” stated Provost Jennifer Brown in announcing Alabanza Akers’ appointment.

With 42 years of academic and executive leadership experience, Alabanza Akers came to Cal Poly Pomona from Morgan State University, a public historically Black research university and Maryland’s largest historically Black college and university, where she was the founding dean of the School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P).

During her 14-year tenure at Morgan State, she developed new academic programs (Ph.D. in Architecture, Urbanism, and Built Environments, and a B.S. in Interior Design) and the Integrated Path to Architecture Licensure (IPAL) program that launched in Fall 2022. Akers is also a founding member of the Deans’ Equity and Inclusion Initiative, a national fellowship program for junior Built Environment academics of color.

Prior to joining Morgan State, Akers taught urban planning at the University of Georgia from 1996 to 2007 and served as the university’s liaison with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s Atlanta Project, and the university’s Institute of Community and Area Development.

Akers has served on the boards of the Maryland Governor’s Parks Commission, Maryland Center for Construction Education and Innovation, MSU Entrepreneurial Development and Assistance Center, and the Katipunan Filipino American Association of Maryland.

Her latest book, “Urban Environments and Health in the Philippines: A Retrospective on Women Street Vendors and their Spaces,” is transdisciplinary study of the country’s informal economy, public health, history and human behavior, and the urban physical space.

Akers holds a Ph.D. in Social Science-Urban Planning and Community Organization from Michigan State University, an M.S. in Creative Writing from Townson University in Maryland, and an M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of the Philippines in Quezon City.