Sherry Ahrentzen, Ph.D., is Professor of Architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her teaching, scholarship, and service address the means by which architecture can be more responsive to social changes in American culture, particularly those affecting women and marginalized groups. Her research, focusing on new forms of housing to better accommodate the social and economic diversity of U.S. households and families, has been published extensively in journals and magazines, such as Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, Harvard Design Magazine, Journal of Social Issues, and Progressive Architecture, and she has presented her work at the annual conferences of the American Institute of Architects, the Environmental Design Research Association and at a number of universities and professional organizations. With Karen A. Franck, she edited the book New Households, New Housing.

In addition, her research with Linda Groat at the University of Michigan has focused on the conditions of architectural education that enhance or hinder development of social and pedagogical diversity. Articles of this work have been published in the Journal of Architectural Education, among other venues. Long an advocate for social responsiveness in design education, she with David Lee, of Stull and Lee Architects, organized the 1995 AIA/ACSA Teacher’s Seminar entitled “Designing for Diversity.”

She has over 50 published articles, chapters, and reports, and has received more than 20 research and instructional grants from various agencies. She has consulted overseas, in China and Indonesia. Her research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Fannie Mae Foundation, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, and Graham Foundation for the Study of the Arts. Professor Ahrentzen has also served as member of the Board of Directors of the Environmental Design Research Association, member of the advisory council for the Initiative for Architectural Research, and associate editor for book reviews for the Journal of Architectural and Planning Research. Her teaching efforts at UWM are directed towards demonstrating the application of research and social theory to architectural design, emphasizing a broad range of methodologies appropriate to architectural inquiry. She teaches at undergraduate, Master's and doctoral levels

Education
University of California, Irvine: M.A. & Ph.D. in Social Ecology, 1982, 1980
University of California, San Diego: B.A. in Psychology, 1977

Teaching Area
Housing Design and Research (social/cultural/behavioral), Research Methods in Architecture, Environment-Behavior Studies, Sensory Design, Gender & Cultural Diversity Issues in Architecture, Master's theses and Ph.D. dissertations

Memberships
EDRA, ACSA, IAPS, Planners Network, International Sociological Association Ad-Hoc Committee on Housing & Built Environment

Academic and Professional Honors

ACSA Distinguished Professor, 2003.
Graduate School/UWM Foundation Research Award, 1993

Teaching Experience
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee:
Professor, 1995-present;
Associate Professor, 1989-95;
Assistant Professor, 1983-89

Research Interests

• investigating and promoting new forms of housing and residential landscapes to better accommodate the social and economic diversity of U.S. households
   
• identifying the conditions of architectural education that enhance or hinder development of social and pedagogical diversity
   
• teaching and design that promotes critical and creative exploration of the social/cultural dimensions of the experiences and fabrication of the built environment
   
• promoting a stronger, more comprehensive research agenda within the realm of architectural education and practice

Publications (Selected)

"Community Design Features that Support Active Living Among Elderly in a Cold-Climate Community “, paper presented at ENHR Conference, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, July, 2004