Temporary for New Faculty & Staff2017-09-27T15:12:21-04:00

Faculty & Staff

Executive Director

John Stuart
Associate Dean, Cultural and Community Engagement
stuartj@fiu.edu
305-535-1463

John Stuart, AIA, Associate Dean for Cultural and Community Engagement, Executive Director of Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Professor, is a practicing registered architect in the State of Florida. He is also an architectural historian and a visual artist developing collaborative research projects on complexity, community, identity, technology, the environment and public space with funding from Van Alen Institute, The National Endowment for the Arts, The National Science Foundation, The National Endowment for the Humanities, and The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Cultural and Community Engagement

Liane Sippin
Senior Special Events Manager
lsippin@fiu.edu
305-535-1464

Liane, Senior Special Events Manager, graduated from FIU with a degree in Communication Arts, and spent three years working with FIU External Relations in the Community Relations Protocol & Special Events. At the Urban Studios Liane manages events, develops and directs the marketing and communication plan to promote exhibitions and programming. As a past president of the FIU Student Government Association, she helps us improve our student experiences by enhancing connections with the FIU community as we build bridges with local businesses, municipalities, and communities.

Jacqueline Thompson
Senior Program Coordinator/ CARTA Innovation Lab Manager
janthomp@fiu.edu
305-535-1463

Jacqueline (Jacqui), Senior Program Coordinator, oversees the Urban Studios as well as the CARTA Innovation Lab. She is a trained MakerBot technician, ensuring students, faculty, and guest have support on any special 3D printed projects. She also oversees the administrative operations of MBUS to ensure its success. Jacqui has an associates degree in Urban Planning from University of Technology in Jamaica and a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from FIU. Jacqui has worked in the CARTA family for 7 years.

Researchers

Orlando Jacinto García
Coordinator & Professor of Composition
garciao@fiu.edu
305-535-2617

Orlando, DMA, is Professor and Coordinator for the Music Composition Program in the School of Music at Florida International University as well as the Composer-In-Residence at MBUS. Through more than 140 works composed for a wide range of performance genres, Orlando Jacinto García has established himself as an important figure in the new music world. The distinctive character of his music has been described as “time suspended—haunting sonic explorations” qualities he developed from his studies with Morton Feldman, among others. Orlando is the Founder of FIU Nodus Ensemble & FIU New Music Ensemble.

Office Hours: Wed. 3:00PM – 4:00PM & Thurs.  1:30PM – 2:30PM (by appointment)

Nick Gelpi
Gelpi Projects/Assistant Professor
nicholas.gelpi@fiu.edu
305-535-2668

Nick, Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture at the College of Communication Architecture + The Arts at Florida International University and is the principal of his own design office based in New York. Gelpi’s practice has been producing a diversity of projects from experimental structures and pavilions, to commercial retail design, and high-concept furniture and prototypes. Gelpi’s research is concerned with materials and representation, often incorporating procedures of fabrication and the conventions of testing through Mockups.

Claudia Busch
Associate Professor
buschc@fiu.edu
305-348-7244

Claudia was born in Germany. She received a Diploma Certificate in Architecture from the F.H. Hamburg, Germany. She holds an MS in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University. Claudia has designed for significant and major architects, such as Zaha Hadid in London, Carlos Zapata, Richard Meier and Bernard Tschumi in New York.  Claudia  lives and works in Miami as an educator, architect and artist. She also coordinates the Lower Division of the School of Architecture at FIU that involves the first four design studios for architecture, interior architecture and landscape architecture.

Richard Florida
University Fellow
rana@creativeclass.com
305-535-1463

Richard is the world’s leading urbanist. He is a researcher and professor, serving as the Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, Global Research Professor at New York University and a Visitng Fellow at Florida International University. He is a writer and journalist, having penned several global best sellers, including the award winning The Rise of the Creative Class and serving as senior editor for The Atlantic, where he co-founded and serves as Editor-at-Large for CityLab. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers College and his Ph.D. from Columbia University.

Eric Goldemberg
MONAD Studio /Associate Professor
goldembe@fiu.edu
305-535-2665

Eric holds a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University. He started his practice in Argentina as part of Estudio STAFF, a firmed founded by Jorge Jose Goldemberg and Teresa Bielus de Goldemberg, specializing in social housing with over 20,000,000 s.f. of built work, all resulting from winning competitions. His firm MONAD Studio was co-founded in 2002 with Veronica Zalcberg. MONAD Studio is a design research practice with focus on spatial perception related to rhythmic affect, exploring the urban dimension, from landscape to installations and buildings.

Jacek J. Kolasinski MFA
Associate Professor & Director, Radcliff Arts + Design Incubator
kolasins@fiu.edu
305-535-2636

Eric holds a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University. He started his practice in Argentina as part of Estudio STAFF, a firmed founded by Jorge Jose Goldemberg and Teresa Bielus de Goldemberg, specializing in social housing with over 20,000,000 s.f. of built work, all resulting from winning competitions. His firm MONAD Studio was co-founded in 2002 with Veronica Zalcberg. MONAD Studio is a design research practice with focus on spatial perception related to rhythmic affect, exploring the urban dimension, from landscape to installations and buildings.

Thomas Spiegelhalter
Associate Professor, FIU School of Architecture
tspiegelhalter@fiu.edu
305-535-2663

Thomas,  is LEED Certified,  Associate Professor and the Co-Director of the Structural & Environmental Technologies Lab (SET LAB) in the School of Architecture at Florida International University. Thomas has realized research demonstration work in Europe and the US in numerous contextual solar, zero fossil-energy, passive and low-energy building realizations projects; large-scale sustainability master planning and consultancies, redevelopment projects for abandoned post-industrial architectures and landscapes, engineered suspension bridges, preservation, and revitali-zation projects.

Michael Klotz
Senior Viola Instructor & Artist-in-Residence, FIU School of Music
klotzm@fiu.edu
305-535-1463

Michael is a member of the Amernet String Quartet; FIU’s Ensemble-in-Residence. A dedicated teacher, Klotz is Senior Viola Instructor and Artist-in-Residence at Florida International University in Miami, where he teaches viola and chamber music. Klotz is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he was awarded the Performer’s Certificate. In 2002 he became one of the few individuals to be awarded a double Master’s Degree in violin and viola from the Juilliard School. At Juilliard, he was the recipient of the Tokyo Foundation and Gluck Fellowships.

Tiffany G. Troxler, Ph.D.
Director, Sea level Solutions Center
troxlert@fiu.edu
305-535-1459

Tiffany Troxler is a research scientist with appointments in the Southeast Environmental Research Center and Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University. Her research focus is wetland ecosystems ecology. Her research employs approaches that include landscape- to local-scale hydrological monitoring of surface and groundwater water quality and ecosystem responses to environmental change. Her research informs management and restoration of coastal and freshwater wetland ecosystems. She currently leads a collaborative effort that will examine the effects of salinity inundation associated with sea-level rise on soil carbon balance in Everglades coastal wetlands.

Peter Licavoli
Founding Executive Director,  ARC+ Director of Business Development – Buildworks, Inc.
peter@arcplus.org
305-582-8179

The Architectural Research Collaborative (ARC+) is a social impact organization whose mission is to create collaborative solutions that empower communities to build a more sustainable future. (Source: ARC+) ARC+ Buildgreen is a program for collaboration with construction companies, architectural firms, and real estate developers on green building initiatives and sustainable architecture. The program coordinates site visits to construction projects around South Florida and provides FIU students with valuable insight into the challenges of incorporating sustainable solutions into their designs and applying them into the built environment. (Source: ARC+)

Roberto Rovira
Roberto Rovira Studio/Associate professor, FIU LAEUD
roberto.rovira@fiu.edu
305-535-2667

Roberto is the principal of the interdisciplinary Studio Roberto Rovira, recognized for its creative approach in the fields of landscape architecture, public art, and design.  He completed a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University in 1990, and a Masters in Landscape Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1998, where he was Dean’s Scholar, recipient of the Award of Merit from the ASLA,  and founder of the installation group Guerrilla Gardens.  Roberto has lived in Latin America, Europe, and Japan and is a former U. S. Naval Officer, having served primarily in Asia and the Persian Gulf from 1990 to 1994.

College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts
Modesto A. Maidique Campus
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PH: 305-535-1463 |
E-Mail: janthomp@fiu.edu