Our Board of Directors have positions in design, architecture, planning and higher education:
President - Ann Sussman, RA, annsussman.com, Boston Architectural College (BAC)
Treasurer - Kiernan Gordon, PhD, University of New England (UNE), professor
Secretary - A. Vernon Woodworth III, FAIA, Boston Architectural College (BAC)
Justin B. Hollander, PhD, Tufts University, professor
Heidi Pribell, Heidi Pribell Interior Design
Don Ruggles, AIA, Ruggles Mabe Studio, University of Colorado, Board of Advisors
Alexandros A. Lavdas, MSc, PhD, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy
Ann Sussman, RA, is passionate about understanding the human experience of the built
environment. Her book, Cognitive Architecture, Designing for How We Respond to the Built
Environment (Routledge, 2015)
co-authored with Justin B. Hollander, won the Place Research Award from the Environmental Design Research
Association (EDRA) in 2016. Her new book, Urban Experience and Design: Contemporary Perspectives on
Improving the Public Realm, (Routledge 2020) also co-edited with Hollander, is due out this fall.
She currently teaches a new course on perception and the human experience of place,
Architecture & Cognition, at the Boston Architectural College (BAC).
She blogs at https://geneticsofdesign.com.
Kiernan Gordan, PhD, is fascinated with the role that emotion plays in peoples' experiences with the
built environment, especially sports venues. He has held faculty appointments at Miami University in Ohio, the
University of New Hampshire, and the University of New England, where he serves as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Gordon
has served as a guest speaker at a variety of institutions, including Harvard University's Graduate School of Design,
and is a Research Fellow with the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security.
A. Vernon Woodworth III, FAIA is a Member of the Faculty at the Boston Architectural College and
Service Leader for Life Safety and Code Consulting at Fitzemeyer Tocci Associates, Inc. A graduate of the
Harvard Divinity School (Master in Theological Studies) and the C.G. Jung Institute Boston (Diploma in Analytical
Psychology), as well as a registered architect, Vernon has focused on human perception and meaning with regard
to the built environment throughout his career. Vernon has written frequently for Architecture Boston magazine
and other publications, and is an advocate for incorporating the findings of neuroscience and biophilia into
the architectural programming process.
Justin B. Hollander, PhD, is a professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning
at Tufts University. His research and teaching is in the areas of physical planning, Big Data, shrinking
cities, and the intersection between cognitive science and the design of cities. He co-edited the book
Urban Experience and Design: Contemporary Perspectives on Improving the Public Realm (Routledge, 2020)
and is the author of seven other books on urban planning and design, including
Cognitive Architecture, Designing for How We Respond to the Built Environment (with Ann Sussman)
and Urban Social Listening: Potential and Pitfalls for Using Microblogging Data in Studying Cities.
He was recently inducted as a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners and hosts the
Apple podcast “Cognitive Urbanism”
Heidi Pribell is an award-winning interior designer who runs the firm, Heidi Pribell Interior Design
(HeidiPribell.com). An expert in textiles, patterns and ornamentation she has taught at the Boston Architectural
College (BAC) interiors program.
Donald H. Ruggles, AIA, is CEO of Ruggles Mabe Studio, a residential architecture and interior
design firm based in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1970, the firm is dedicated to the idea that
beauty can improve the lives of its clients, with award-winning projects featured in publications
world-wide. The author of the book Beauty, Neuroscience & Architecture (2017), Don is
Executive Producer of the full-length documentary movie Built Beautiful (2020), and also serves
on the Board of Advisors for the College of Architecture and Planning (CAP) at the University
of Colorado, Denver.
Alexandros A. Lavdas, MSc, PhD, is a neuroscientist at Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy.
He holds a PhD from University College London (UCL) and has worked at UCL and the Hellenic Pasteur Institute
in Athens, and taught at the University of Indianapolis (Athens branch). He has worked extensively in
nervous system development and regeneration, and is especially interested in examining elements of
visual organized complexity, such as those found in nature and pre-modern architecture, and exploring
their physiological and neural correlates.
