The College of Architecture announces the appointment of Dr. Zhenghong Tang to Director of the Community and Regional Planning (CRP) Program. This leadership transition in the CRP Program follows Professor and Program Director Gordon Scholz’s June 30th retirement.
Tang brings decades of academic expertise and leadership to this position of program director. He has been teaching with the CRP Program since 2008, in the areas of Environmental Planning, GIS in Environmental Design and Planning, Environmental Impact Assessment, Hazard Mitigation Planning and Planning Theory.
Tang has been very active in Nebraska and beyond building collaborations with a variety of stakeholders from the university, area communities, professional organizations, governmental agencies and entrepreneurial partners, to promote teaching, research and service initiatives. His collaborations include projects such as assisting the flood devastated village of Winslow, Nebraska, explore hazard mitigation planning and recovery options; partnering with UNL researchers to develop a suite of tools that help area municipalities prepare for climate change; and working with the Omaha Stormwater Program to create educational tools and resources to improve Omaha's green infrastructures.
With the assistance of numerous research grants from a variety of federal and state agencies, including the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Agriculture, the US Department of Interior, the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy, and the Nebraska Environmental Trust, Tang has made significant advancements in planning resource development. Planning assets such as the creation of phone apps, guidebooks, best practice guidelines and other research products have been widely used to assist governmental agencies in wetland restoration, watershed planning and soil and water conservation.
Helping shape local and national policies, Tang’s service with government agencies and professional organizations have made significant impacts in environmental sustainability and planning. As a committee member, Tang worked with the National Integrated Drought Information System and the U.S. Department of Interior to promote the adaptations of extreme climate with local planning systems.
Renown as a scholar, Tang has presented at numerous planning conferences, and his work has been widely published and esteemed by his peers. Most recently his article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research was chosen as the best article for the 2019 Chester Rapkin Award by the Association of Collegiate School of Planning.
“Zhenghong has served the Community and Regional Planning Program tirelessly in many ways over the years,” commented College of Architecture Dean Katherine Ankerson. “I join the faculty with full confidence in his leadership of the CRP Program and the mentoring of tomorrow’s professional planners.”
