Doctor of Design (DDes)

Jun 10, 2025

Spring 2025 Designlife Magazine

The spring issue of Designlife magazine is here! Explore this issue for stories on the magazine’s new look and feel, the incredible work done by faculty, students and alumni and more. Explore the Issue Dean’s Message: Designing for Impact The College of Design continues to design for impact – to positively impact the human experience…

Jun 10, 2025

Scaling with Empathy: AI Solutions for Urban Planning

As cities and towns incorporate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) into urban planning, Lee Cherry is asking an important question: how can they best ensure AI is used fairly and ethically? The concept is at the heart of Cherry’s research as he pursues his Doctor of Design from NC State’s College of Design.

May 9, 2025

Congratulations, Spring 2025 Graduates!

The College of Design is proud to celebrate the graduates of the spring 2025 class.

Aug 20, 2024

Bringing New Life to Paper Streets 

The City of Durham has over 600 “paper streets” - narrow strips of land planned for use as a street, but never built. College of Design students partnered with the city’s Office of Performance and Innovation to bring new life to these previously underutilized spaces, envisioning micro-parks, art installations, educational outdoor spaces, and valuable pedestrian corridors.

Jul 30, 2024

Newton D’Souza to lead doctoral programs for the College of Design

Newton D’Souza, PhD will head up a new doctoral programs unit within the College of Design at North Carolina State University, effective August 12, 2024. D’Souza will oversee the two doctoral programs offered by the college, a traditional PhD in Design program and a hybrid Doctor of Design degree.

Apr 1, 2024

M. Elen Deming Honored for Exceptional Service to CELA and LAF

Educator and researcher M. Elen Deming was presented with the Forster Ndubisi Professional Service Award at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Dinner on March 22, 2024.

May 10, 2023

College of Design Faculty win NC State Awards in Teaching and Research

Six College of Design faculty were recognized with awards from the Alumni Association, Graduate School, Libraries and Office of the Provost this spring.

Apr 26, 2023

Doctor of Design Program Celebrates its First Graduate: Dr. Juhann Waller

Juhann Waller (DDes Cohort 1) is the first student-practitioner of the program to graduate, and will receive his degree in August 2023. Dr. Waller is the CEO of J.C. Waller Associates, PC, based in Greensboro, NC. His doctoral dissertation is entitled “Resilient Infrastructure: An Integrated Design Approach for the Equitable Distribution of Stormwater Capital Improvements Projects for Pluvial Flood Mitigation.” It models a type of applied design research that can be effected in real time, for real change.

Apr 26, 2023

Celebrating Alumni + Friends Weekend and the Designlife Gala

The College of Design celebrated Alumni + Friends Weekend and the Designlife Gala on April 21-22, 2023. The college was delighted to see so many friendly faces back on campus, touring our studios, and connecting with former classmates and colleagues at the reunions by the decade. The weekend's events culminated with the Designlife Gala at the JC Raulston Arboretum on Saturday night.

Jan 18, 2023

75 Years of Leading by Design: College of Design Celebrates a Momentous Milestone

The College of Design celebrates its 75th anniversary throughout 2023 with a series of lectures, events, alumni weekends, and more.

Jan 12, 2023

Preparing the next generation of green professionals with LEED Lab

North Carolina State University (NC State) is preparing the next generation of green building leaders through LEED Lab. This multidisciplinary immersion course uses project-based learning in the built environment to educate and prepare students to become green building leaders and sustainability-focused citizens.

Aug 26, 2022

Students Visualize Structures of Oppression; win NC State Envisioning Research Contest

Students in the College of Design recently took top prizes in the Graphics and Data Visualization and photography categories of the NC State Envisioning Research Contest. Three of the four entries from the college were part of the DIY Cartography: Oppressive Infrastructures class, which explored how we as a society are grappling with how to best serve diverse communities and create more equitable futures for all while visualizing the complex historic context around oppressive infrastructures in the US.

Aug 17, 2022

Ethnographic Fiber Artist Karen Baker on Slow Fashion and Natural Products: How One DDes Student Explores the Lost Histories of Textiles

Karen Baker, current student in the Doctor of Design Program at NC State's College of Design, is a weaver focused on design, history, and critical studies of textile and fiber in Washington, DC. She is currently researching the textile, fiber and craft contributions and techniques of enslaved and free African American weavers before the Great Migration.

Jun 27, 2022

2022 Designlife Magazine

Read about the people and activities featured in the 2022 issue of Designlife Magazine.

May 24, 2022

Student Profile: Iyare Oronsaye Seeks to Improve Diversity in Animation

Iyare Oronsaye is currently the director and assistant professor of the animation and illustration program at the University of Northwestern as well as a student practitioner in the College of Design's Doctor of Design (DDes) program. As a DDes student, Oronsaye is researching how inclusivity can make positive impacts within the animation industry.

May 18, 2022

Celebrating Another Successful Day of Giving

The College of Design celebrated another successful Day of Giving on March 23, 2022 thanks to the generous gifts of donors, alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends, all of whom believe in the importance of design education. Thanks to your support, the college was able to raise $474,885 from 373 gifts, exceeding last year’s 309 gifts by 21%.

Dec 16, 2021

Dr. Traci Rose Rider releases new book on health-focused building standards

Traci Rose Rider, assistant professor of architecture and member of the Doctor of Design and PhD faculty, has recently released a new book titled "Building for Well-Being: Exploring Health-Focused Rating Systems for Design and Construction Professionals" with co-author Margaret van Bakergem.

Sep 2, 2021

Exploring Nature as a Resource in Virtual Reality

GGRAPH 2021 Groovy Graphics Assignment, “Photogrammetry for a Virtual Reality Nature Scene.” As part of their on-demand talk, the two discussed capturing nature using photogrammetry and building a virtual reality nature scene.

Aug 4, 2021

Ashley Pearson Wins SHRA Award for Excellence

NC native and NC State alum Ashley Pearson recently received an Outstanding SHRA Award for Human Relations. She brings kindness, efficiency, heart and humor to her work supporting doctoral programs and college advancement.

Jul 29, 2021

Designlife Podcast: Jonathan Williams and Designerly Knotting

On this episode of the Designlife Podcast we’re joined by Jonathan Williams, a DDes Student and educator working in New York. Jonathan is currently researching how something as simple as tying a knot can transform how we approach design from an early age.

Jul 12, 2021

DDes Student Designs Learning Assessments for Deaf Children

When user experience designer AJ Polanco decided to advance his career by earning a doctoral degree, his search for the perfect opportunity led him to become part of the first cohort of eight students to enroll in the College of Design’s brand-new Doctor of Design program in 2018.

Jul 9, 2021

Room to Lead

Steven Chavez is a student practitioner in the Doctor of Design program at the College of Design. He is the founder of NAMLA, the National Association of Minority Landscape Architects. Read his recent interview with Landscape Architecture Magazine.

Jan 21, 2021

Closing in on a Doctorate

AJ Polanco is the first person in his cohort to successfully complete the academic requirements of the Doctor of Design (DDes) program.

Aug 20, 2020

Designlife Podcast: Justin Johnson

Today we are discussing how gaming, especially in a virtual reality setting, can be applied to treating post traumatic stress disorder. We’re joined by NC State College of Design Assistant Professor and Doctor of Design student practitioner, Justin Johnson. As a combat veteran and lifelong gamer, Justin has been researching how the natural environment can…

Aug 14, 2020

Designlife Podcast: Elen Deming

The Doctor of Design (DDes) was established in 2016, making it one of the newest programs the college has to offer. It is also the only one of its kind in the country that offers a blended online learning model for design research.  The Doctor of Design has garnered attention and enrollment from students across…

Aug 12, 2020

DDes Student Researching How to Design VR That Heals

Justin Johnson is researching how VR can be used to treat PTSD and promote cognitive restoration.

Jul 13, 2020

DDes Student Puts Research into Practice as Town Manager

As a student practitioner in the DDes program, Moore gets to explore ways in which the town has the capacity and the capability to change as new residents and new economic decisions come into play.

Jan 3, 2020

DDes Students Shared Dissertation Work at Second Annual Symposium

Participants in the Doctor of Design (DDes) program shared the outcomes of their research projects at a symposium held in August 2019. The program, now admitting its third cohort, is a hybrid program for seasoned practitioners to further their careers in design. The symposium included a poster session to celebrate the first anniversary of the…

Sep 12, 2019

Doctor of Design Students Explore Success After Failure

The Doctor of Design (DDes) program held its second annual symposium, Success After Failure: Designing Through Challenges, on August 16, 2019.

Apr 25, 2019

2019 Design Employee Excellence Awards

The College of Design proudly honored faculty and staff on April 23, 2019. Congratulations to all of the winners, and thank you for all that you do to make the NC State College of Design a place of innovation and excellence.

Apr 11, 2019

Design to Address Stormwater Infrastructure Issues

Juhann Waller is pursuing his Doctor of Design degree with NC State in hopes of mitigating stormwater infrastructure issues that derail communities.

Apr 11, 2019

DDes Student-Practitioner Expands Conversation about Climate Change

Teresa Buckwalter, an NC State Design Doctor of Design student practitioner, who is exploring solutions to "give landscape architects a way of talking and interacting with people and rural communities that value those places and those people and their insights."

Nov 9, 2018

Designing a Sustainable Food System

Mike Ortosky is pursuing his Doctor of Design degree at NC State Design with the intention of reimagining a sustainable food system to benefit the health of the environment, economy, and North Carolina communities and beyond.

Oct 29, 2018

Launching the Doctor of Design Program: A Collaborative Journey

NC State College of Design launched the only online Doctor of Design program in the country. This flexibility is intended to converge technology, innovation, and academic rigor to create an effective program with a focus design investigation. Learn about the making of this program.

Oct 8, 2018

New DDes Program Caters to Student-Practitioners

This semester, the NC State College of Design launched the nation’s first blended learning Doctor of Design (DDes) program, combining the flexibility of an online learning environment with the traditional benefits of on-campus residency. Since 1998, the college has offered the PhD in Design, a doctorate program aimed at advancing knowledge in design through research…