Awards & Honors

Assistant Professor Zihao Zhang is among the 49 faculty members named as 2023 CUNY Career Success Fellows from 21 schools in the City University of New York system.

As powerful influencers of students, faculty are given Career Success Fellowships to implement effective methods of helping students understand the relationship between classroom learning and careers that can be adapted to every field and to serve as career-engaged leaders on their home campuses in the upcoming academic year. This year’s cohort is the second to receive the Fellowship.

By building transdisciplinary, critical analyses at the intersections among design, engineering, and environmental humanities, Zhang’s work interrogates emerging technologies and their ramifications on the constructed environment. His work inspires innovative landscape strategies to address the most pressing issues and their compounding effects on cities and urban landscapes. He directs the Ecological Laboratory for Urban Agriculture, researching innovative urban food production. “How can we ensure our students succeed in their careers while maintaining their criticality to challenge conventional practices in some industries that perpetuates systemic inequality and toxic office culture?” queried Zhang.

Also selected as fellows at CCNY are Associate Professor of English Robert Higney and Glenford Patterson, lecturer of economics and business.

Zhang will also serve as interim director of the Master of Landscape Architecture program for the upcoming year. “The Landscape Architecture program at CCNY is highly recognized for its commitment to social, environmental, and multi-species justice. Dean Marta Gutman and Chair Sean Weiss’s strong leadership, and Spitzer School’s committed faculty and staff, have created solidarity and stability for the program to continue to grow and make an impact. With the support and dedication of our fabulous MLA students, I am confident to carry the torch passed by outgoing Program Director Catherine Seavitt Nordenson,” said Zhang of his new appointment. “I will advance our mission by integrating a climate justice lens and prepare our students to be leaders in our collective efforts to combat the climate crisis by designing vibrant, resilient, equitable, and just communities for all!”