Assistant Professor of Practice in the Landscape Architecture Section Tameka Baba has been awarded the College of Engineering Dean’s Award for Distinguished Outreach Achievements as part of the Spring 2023 College of Engineering  Faculty Awards Ceremony.

Tameka Baba joined the Knowlton School landscape architecture faculty in 2016, first as a lecturer and, since 2022, as an Assistant Professor of Practice. Since then, she has developed a substantial outreach and public-facing research program that has created bridges between Ohio State and a range of organizations and communities in Columbus and Lima, Ohio. She has acted as a trustee and leader of youth design programs for the Columbus Center for Architecture and Design (CFAD) as well as led the South Jackson Street Garden Project, an extension of the Ohio Land Exchange (OHLEX). 

Baba chairs the Columbus Center for Architecture and Design youth outreach programming, including their summer Camp Architecture, biannual High School Design Studio, and the monthly Design Pop! drop-in workshops for elementary and middle school students. For each of these programs, Baba develops age-appropriate curricula, hires and trains students, and recruits local professionals to offer studio visits and conduct field trips. These activities strengthen ties between the Knowlton School and the community and local design firms, and bring much-needed K-12 design education to Central Ohio. $20,000 Battelle Grant to build STEM skills for Central Ohio students and making High School Design Studio and Design Pop! free for all students has helped remove barriers to design education.

Baba has also played a leadership role in creating accessible pathways for minority communities and female students, who have been historically underrepresented in the design disciplines. Baba has engaged the student and  Columbus chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and the National Organization of Minority Landscape Architects (NAMLA) to develop curricula and outreach strategies. In her role at CFAD, she secured a $20,000 Battelle Grant to build STEM skills for Central Ohio students  and used those funds to ensure  that the High School Design Studio and Design Pop! are free for all students, removing barriers to design education.

Since 2018, Baba has also led the South Jackson Street Garden Project, an interdisciplinary design-build project involving faculty from architecture, city and regional planning, ecology and soil sciences and collaborators at Ohio State’s Extension Program and the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis. Baba’s direct involvement with stakeholders in the South Jackson community, has seen the creation of a community garden and public space on an abandoned lot in Lima, Ohio, and a prototype for urban vacant land. 

In conclusion, Prof. Baba’s outreach efforts establish a bridge between Ohio State and local schools as well as partnerships with professionals, organizations, and communities. As a Black architect and landscape architect, she is a rare role model who has developed pathways for students as young as eight years old from all walks of life to envision and practice design. Her academic leadership values integration and advocates for a public-facing, collaborative approach to design that can equally impact youth and community. I hope the committee will strongly consider Prof. Baba for the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Outreach Achievements.