Tzen-Ying Jenny Ling ’88 MSAAD
Co- founder, Origo Workshop
Professor in Resilience Thinking, Tamkang University

Jenny is a licensed architect and founder of Origo Living, a health tech startup-up. She combines her position as the leader of CReS Lab and Professor in Resilience Thinking at Tamkang University in Taiwan. She has a background in urban design, planning, architecture and urban resilience, with more than 30 years of experience leading urban mixed-sale strategic and resilience planning for public and private sector clients. Jenny TY founded her inter-disciplinary practice at Origo Living and AJL. Jenny’s projects include the Yeliu Café, TPCA Academy, Urban Vertical Farm Prototype, Hsuchiu Mix-use Park, Origo Modular Housing, 921 Memorial park. Jenny is the adjunct director of AIA International board, and the founding President of AIA Taipei Section. She also serves as a board member of the Columbia Alum Association of Taiwan and secretary to the GSAPP board; this year, she was selected the Fulbright Scholar (alternate) to conduct research on re-evaluating the paradigm relationships between people and habitat within the urban environment to accommodate and sustain an increased level of well-being and activities in the urban areas. She has presented her work accolades and research in national and international conferences. Currently, she is completing the interdisciplinary research titled: the Bricolage of Enhancers and Inhibitors : Traitors of Nature and Perceived Presence in the Urban Land, which explores the relation between the contemporary living in relation to nature and the ecological realm l, both visible and invisible as enhanced or inhibited through our perception. Jenny continues to promote “Re-wilding urbanity”. Her other accolades include publication on resilience and risk communication. These research projects have resulted in a number of publications.

Hala Abukhodair ’20 MSAUD

Hala Abukhodair is from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She earned a Masters in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia GSAPP , following her Bachelor of Engineering focused in Architecture.

As an architectural engineer and now an Urban Designer with more than four years of experience working in the construction industry, Metro projects, and Municipal Urban Regulations across Saudi Arabia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. At Columbia, her efforts included being part of the Program Council, the School’s shift towards greater emphasis on sustainability in the curriculum, and was a wonderful ambassador for GSAPP and the University community and a recipient of the Campbell leadership award by Columbia Alumni Association.

Dalal Musaed Alsayer ’10 MSAUD
Assistant Professor of Architecture, Kuwait University

Dalal Musaed Alsayer is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at Kuwait University. Her research lies at the intersection of architecture, environment, and development in the context of Arabia during the twentieth century. She is the co-author of Pan-Arab Modernism 1968-2008: History of Architectural Practice in The Middle East (Actar, 2021), the co-founding editor of Current: Collective for Architecture History and Environment, and is also the co-chair of the Architecture and Environment interest group at the European Architectural History Network (EAHN). She received her Ph.D. in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Kuwait University; a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University; a Master of Design Studies from Harvard University; and a Master of Science in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. She was an Academic Visitor at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford for the academic year 2022-23.

Diane Branch ’03 MSRED


Diane is currently in private practice specializing in real estate matters. Her experience includes senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle, where she handled leasing transactions for Fortune 500 clients, and associate vice president at Howard University, where she managed the universities real estate development. Before Howard University, Branch served as the District of Columbia’s project manager for The Gallery Place and Mandarin Hotel Increment Financing Bonds.

Steven Corsello ’21 M.Arch | MSRED
Job Captain at Gensler

As a member of a developer-facing studio in Gensler’s New York office, one of my jobs is to identify opportunities for owners to maximize the long-term value of their assets, with an emphasis on building reuse and adaptation. Tasked with developing proxy analytics to measure return-on-design, a key goal of the team’s mandate is to understand why buildings do and don’t work well for their occupants within a broader context of social and environmental priorities.

Steven is a recipient of the 2024 Incubator Prize and will be continuing his research project (2022 Incubator Prize) De-Carceral Futures, which aims to: end racial disparities in the criminal justice system–specifically with respect to detention, sentencing, and mass incarceration–by developing and scaling a new climate oriented, multi-modal supportive housing typology that will address justice avoidance, sentence mitigation, service distribution and housing insecurity among the reentry and justice involved communities in New York.

Steven is a Board Member of the Center for Community Alternatives, a justice reform non-profit that has pioneered restorative, re-integrative techniques with a particular focus on eliminating the system’s reliance on prisons and jails and developing the next generation of supportive facilities designed to end mass incarceration. Steven served as the GSAPP Student Representative to the University Senate and remains an active volunteer participating in mentorship and speaking programs within GSAPP.

Brian Dollar ’03 MSRED
Senior Vice President of Real Estate Development, ACRUVA Community Developers

Dr. Brian Dollar, DPPD, is a Senior Vice President of Real Estate Development with ACRUVA Community Developers (ACRUVA) in its South Florida Headquarters. Dr. Dollar joined ACRUVA in 2023 and brings more than 25 years of experience in real estate development, affordable housing, asset management, portfolio management, finance, strategy, and operations.

His primary areas of expertise include real estate development, acquisitions, and advisory transactions nationally. Throughout his career, Dr. Dollar has sourced and closed deals in excess of $1 billion for several private, public, and governmental entities.

Previously, Dr. Dollar served as a Real Estate Development Executive for Atlanta Housing with its Real Estate Development and Planning Department and Director of Real Estate Strategy within the Office of Policy, Strategy, and Innovation.

Before that, Dr. Dollar worked for Wonderful Real Estate Development, Rockefeller Group Development, GE Capital Real Estate, MetLife Real Estate, Cushman & Wakefield, and Lend Lease Real Estate Investors in various transactional capacities.

Dr. Brian holds a Doctorate from The University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy, a master’s in real estate development from Columbia University in New York and Bachelor of Arts in Finance from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Brian is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), serving on its National Reuse & Redevelopment Product Council, a member of the National Association of Industrial & Office Properties (NAIOP), a member of the Columbia University Real Estate Development Program Alumni Board, and member of Columbia University GSAAP Board of Alumni Directors.

Dr. Brian currently lives in South Florida with his wife (Aleksandra) and two young children, Brian Jr., and Elle. Outside of work, Brian is enthusiastic about and heavily involved in community service, international travel, and F1 racing events.

León Duval ’22 MSAAD
Founder, Espiral
Coordinator of Professional Practice and Alumni, Architecture School of the Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile)

Coordinator of Professional Practice and Alumni, Architecture School of the Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile)

León Duval is a Chilean architect who works through the spatial possibilities of the discipline, engaging in inter and transdisciplinary relationships, and teachings, researching and design, both individually and collectively. He understands architecture as a political affair of the built environment and beyond the building itself. He stands that the Global South needs to be equally built and taught. In his practice, he cares for humans and more-than-human relationships, ecologies, and Latinx identities. His search focuses on counterpower images, extractive landscapes, Latin American identity, popular culture and domesticity.

León graduated as an architect in 2009. He holds a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design at Columbia GSAPP in 2022, where he was the recipient of the Avery Scholarship, the William Kinne Fellows Traveling Prize, and the Honor Award for Arguments in Design. He also holds a Master’s in American Aesthetics from the Aesthetic Institute of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, graduating with maximum distinction in 2020. León co-founded the Chilean architecture firm Espiral in 2011 and co-founded the interdisciplinary applied-research collective Colectivo de Palabreo in 2022. Since 2022, he has been the coordinator of professional practices & alumni of the Architecture School of the Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile), where he also teaches Design Studio and Research Seminar.

Alex Hudtwalcker Rey ’20 MSAAD
Principal Architect, Alex Hudtwalcker Arquitectos

Alex Hudtwalcker is a licensed architect and professor, graduated from UPC School of Architecture in Lima, Perú (2011). In 2020 he obtained a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University in New York, where he received the Honor Award for Excellence in Advanced Architectural Design. Alex has been involved in the practice of architecture for nearly 10 years, where he has collaborated with peers locally and internationally, as it is the case of Bernard Tschumi Architects in New York.

Since 2016, he has co-instructed different architecture studios and material workshops at both UPC and the University of Lima School of Architecture in Lima, Peru. He is currently leading the Seminar of Urbanism and Territory at the Master in Architecture and Advanced Projects (MAPP) at the Graduate School of Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. He has participated as panelist in academic events and lectures in NY and Lima. He has been invited jury at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Alex is currently based in Lima where he allocates his time between his private practice, teaching and doing research.

Cecily King ’15 MSRED
Founder, Kipling Development

Cecily King is the founder of Kipling Development, a real estate development and consulting firm. Since graduating from GSAPP’s MS in Real Estate Development program in 2015, the majority of her work has been centered in Detroit, MI.

Throughout her real estate career, Cecily has held roles in the public, private and non-profit sectors that have given her a varied perspective of the deal table, including serving as a Development Director for the City of Detroit’s Housing & Revitalization Department. As a consultant, her clients have included non-profits, private developers, institutions, and universities around the country. She began her career as a structural engineer with a set of clients that ranged from high-net-worth individuals to universities.

Cecily earned her BSE in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Princeton University and her MEng in Structural Engineering from Lehigh University. She also holds her MS in Real Estate Development from Columbia University where she is now an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the program.

Nika Mo ’18 MSAAD
Project Architect, Moody Nolan

Nika Mo is a New York–based Project Architect and a 2018 graduate of Columbia GSAPP’s MSAAD program, where she was recognized with the Honor Award for Excellence in Design. Over the past seven years, she has led high-profile commercial and healthcare projects across the globe, developing deep expertise in real estate development—from master planning and commercial repositioning to the design of innovative healthcare environments. A licensed architect and Project Management Professional, Mo is known for her strategic thinking, technical rigor, and ability to navigate complex, multi-stakeholder projects with a clear, human-centered vision.

Dedicated to mentorship and professional advocacy, Mo has been an active voice in shaping the next generation of architects. Her experience across a broad spectrum of practices—from boutique design studios to global firms—has given her unique insight into the evolving nature of architectural practice and leadership. She believes strongly in the power of alumni networks to support lifelong learning, expand opportunities, and foster cross-generational collaboration.

As a member of the GSAPP Alumni Board, Mo is particularly focused on elevating and engaging emerging design professionals. She sees this group as a driving force for innovation and transformation in the field, and is committed to creating meaningful platforms for connection, dialogue, and mutual support. With deep gratitude for the GSAPP community that shaped her trajectory, she is excited to contribute to its continued impact and evolution.

Marina Otero Verzier ’13 MSCCCP
Head of the MA Social Design Masters, Design Academy Eindhoven

Dr. Marina Otero Verzier is an architect and researcher. In 2022 she received Harvard’s Wheelwright Prize for a project on the future of data storage. Her winning proposal Future Storage: Architectures to Host the Metaverse examines new architecture paradigms for storing data and how reimagining digital infrastructures could meet the unprecedented demands facing the world today.

Since 2020 Otero is the Head of the MA Social Design Masters at Design Academy Eindhoven. The program focuses on design practices attuned to ecological and social challenges. From 2015 to 2022, she was the Director of Research at Het Nieuwe Instituut, where she led initiatives focused on labor, extraction, and mental health from an architectural and post-anthropocentric perspective, including “Automated Landscapes,” “BURN-OUT, ” and “Lithium: States of Exhaustion.” Previously, she was Director of Global Network Programming at Studio-X, Columbia GSAPP.

Otero has curated exhibitions such as ‘Compulsive Desires: On Lithium Extraction and Rebellious Mountains,’ at Galería Municipal do Porto in 2023, ‘Work, Body, Leisure,’ the Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2018, and ‘After Belonging,’ the Oslo Architecture Triennale in 2016. She has co-edited Automated Landscapes (2023), Lithium: States of Exhaustion (2021), A Matter of Data (2021), More-than-Human (2020), Architecture of Appropriation (2019), Work, Body, Leisure (2018), and After Belonging (2016), among others. Otero studied at TU Delft and ETSA Madrid and Columbia GSAPP. In 2016, she received her PhD at ETSA Madrid. Her PhD thesis Evanescent Institutions (2016) examines the emergence of new paradigms for institutions, and in particular the political implications inherent in mobile and transient structures.

Larry H. Padilla ’94 MSRED
Regional Vice President, Caribbean office for The Michaels Organization

Mr. Padilla is currently the Regional Vice President of the Caribbean office for The Michaels Organization, one of the nation’s largest multi-family developers and operators, responsible for overseeing all aspects of development activity, including acquisitions, planning, land-use approvals, and development financing for Puerto Rico the US Virgin Islands and Southeast Florida.

Throughout his career, Larry has held roles in the private, public, and non-profit sectors, giving him a unique perspective on the multi dynamic forces that impact any project. Over the years, he has led award-winning development, investment, acquisitions, management and construction initiatives averaging over $4 billion dollars in multi-asset and mixed-use projects. Prior to joining Michaels, Larry served as the Senior Director of Real Estate and Development Finance for the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, responsible for the agency’s property dispositions, land development, affordable and work force housing initiatives, and community finance functions. Larry also served as the Chief Operations Officer at the Charlotte Housing Authority, Chief Development Officer for Transom Development/SunTrust Bank, Chief Operations Officer for a real estate development and construction conglomerate in Puerto Rico, and as Director of Development for a community builder in Harlem, New York. He has also consulted as a Special Assistant to the HUD Secretary, and contributed to national housing strategies to the National Economic Council, office of the Vice President of the United States.

Larry holds a Master’s in Real Estate Development and Finance from Columbia University and a BA in Architecture and Environmental Design from the University at Buffalo, as well as certifications in Project, Property and Construction Management.

He currently serves on the Puerto Rico Homebuilders Board, the US territory’s most influential construction, builder and development advocacy group and is an active member of ULI’s South East Florida and Caribbean committee.

Nicholas (Cole) Perry ’22 MSRED | MSUP
Associate Director of Research, Altus Group

Nicholas (Cole) Perry is the Associate Director of Research at Altus Group, where he delivers analysis on macroeconomic trends, capital markets, and the commercial real estate sector. In his role, Cole drives external thought leadership, supports internal enablement initiatives, and contributes to academic research partnerships. His insights have been featured in Commercial Observer, Connect CRE, GlobeSt, Business Journals, and Bisnow. He also co-hosts the CRE Exchange podcast.

Before joining Altus Group, Cole held research and analytics roles at CompStak and Brixmor Property Group. He holds dual master’s degrees in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development from Columbia GSAPP, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from The George Washington University.

Sonal Shah ’08 MSUP
Executive Director, Centre of Sustainable and Equitable Cities
Founder, The Urban Catalysts

Sonal Shah is the Executive Director of the Centre of Sustainable and Equitable Cities and the founder of The Urban Catalysts, advising multiple stakeholders – governments, development banks, philanthropic organizations and think tanks on sustainable, equitable city planning and transport.

Over the last 15 years, Sonal has worked across 10 states in India, South and Central Asia, Middle East, and the United States focusing on sustainable, gender equitable cities and transport. Sonal was responsible for introducing India’s first gender sensitive urban planning guidelines and revising India’s national urban street design guidelines (IRC codes) to make them people-oriented.

Sonal has led projects supported by the World Bank, AfD, UK Aid, ADB, IKI, Oak Foundation, Gates Foundation, GIZ and Bloomberg Philanthropies. She has taught at numerous institutions such as the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Anant National University, KRVIA, Academy of Architecture and the JJ School of Architecture.

Sonal graduated from the MSc Urban Planning program from Columbia University. She was featured in the Alumni Spotlight in Fall 2013-14, and in the Remarkable Women in Transport 2020 by the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative. She was also part of the NITI Aayog’s WEP-UNDP program on Innovative Finance.

Parul Sharma ’15 MSAUD

Parul is an architect and urban designer with a decade of experience in urban development, mobility, architecture and placemaking in India and the US. She is passionate about creating inclusive and equitable cities through community participative design and simplified communication.

This year she founded City Scanner, a startup developing a mobile app and tech platform based on AI and crowdsourced data, to improve the navigation and mobility experience of cyclists and other vulnerable road users. City Scanner was selected as a finalist for Columbia Venture Competition’s Urban Works India Challenge 2021; was part of the StartMeUP Bootcamp by Columbia SEAS; and was selected for Columbia Venture Community’s female founders incubator, Project Two.Eight.

Parul holds a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from GSAPP, Columbia University, where she received the Kinne Traveling Fellows Prize. She has a Bachelor of Architecture from Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India.

Meghan Taylor-Steshyn ’20 MSRED
Senior Program Officer, Mission Real Estate Development
 

Meghan Taylor-Steshyn serves as a Senior Program Officer for the Mission Real Estate Development initiative with the Philanthropies team at Trinity Church Wall Street. In this role, she works with international and domestic partners from the Anglican Communion and faith-based communities to identify opportunities to develop income producing properties that would increase financial capacity and further their social impact. She has been an adjunct assistant professor at GSAPP for Pre-Development Analysis.

Before joining Trinity, Meghan worked in commercial interior design and architecture in Austin, TX, where she was the lead designer Boys & Girls Club “Home Club” and Oracle’s Waterfront Campus interiors. She holds a Bachelor of Design in interior design from the University of Florida and an MS in Real Estate Development from Columbia University and is a licensed Interior Designer.

Gauri Bahuguna ’20 M.Arch
Ruth Benjamin ’10 M.Arch Past Alumni Board President
Gustavo Berenblum ’91 MSAAD Jessica Betz Abel ’17 MSHP
Deborah Bhatt ’05 MSRED
Heidi Blau ’83 M.Arch
Amy Boyle ’08 MSUP
Stanford Britt ’72 M.Arch
Barbara Campagna ‘86 MSHP
Angela Cavaluzzi ’86 MSAUD
Lori Cardeli ’07 M.Arch
Dean DiSimone ’99 M.Arch
Jonie Fu ’06 MSAUD Past Alumni Board President
Phillip Gesue ’96 MSRED
Kate Gillespie ’88 MSUP
Hannia Gomez ’84 MSUD
Matthew Gross ’05 MSRED
Richard Handler ’08 MSHP
Sara Hart ’84 M.Arch
Naomi Hersson-Ringskog ’09 MSUP
William Kenworthey ’00 MSAUD
James Kolker ’86 M.Arch
Michael Latham ’00 M.Arch
Tiffany Lau ’09 MSRED
Elizabeth Leber ’95 M.Arch
Dominic Leong ‘03 MSAAD
Ryan LeVasseur ’11 MSRED
Sharon Liebowitz ’91 M.Arch Past Alumni Board President
Carol Loewenson ’79 M.Arch
Allison Lyons ’10 MSHP
Julie Maddox ’06 MSHP
Pierpaolo Martiradonna ’05 MSAAD
Donald Matheson '03 MSRED
Belen Moneo ’91 M.Arch
William Morache ’14 MSHP
Angela O'Byrne ’87 MSRED
Deike Peters ’95 MSUP
Joseph Peters ’03 MSRED
Jennifer Romeo ’12 M.Arch Past Alumni Board President
Dan Shannon ’86 MSAAD Past Alumni Board President
Andrea Sreshta '11 M.Arch
Peter (Ned) Stoll ’77 M.Arch
Sharon Sutton ’73 M.Arch
Daniel Sze ’76 MSAUD
Troy Therrien ’09 M.Arch
Rachel Villalta ’12 M.Arch
Stephen Yablon ’82 M.Arch
Michelle Young ’12 MSUP
Hisham Youssef ’89 M.Arch