{"387231":{"#nid":"387231","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Professor of Practice Mike Dobbins receives Innovation and Excellence in Laboratory Instruction Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of City and Regional Planning professor Mike Dobbins has been selected by Georgia Tech as the recipient of this year\u2019s Innovation and Excellence in Laboratory Instruction Award. The award is open to full-time general faculty of any rank who have excelled in teaching in the laboratory.\u0026nbsp; The \u201claboratory\u201d can be broadly defined to include both traditional science labs and other formal courses that include experiential learning where students participate in the processes of investigation, analysis, and reflection in order to reach a deeper understanding of course concepts.\u0026nbsp;Dobbins is the first non-scientist in Tech history to receive the award. He will be honored at the 2015 Faculty and Staff Awards Luncheon, 17 April, from noon to 1:30pm\u0026nbsp;in the Georgia Tech Student Center Ballroom.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDobbins has been teaching community-engaged studio courses, sometimes referred to as CityLabs, for the School of City and Regional Planning annually since 2002. Prior to joining the School, Dobbins served as the Planning Commissioner for the City of Atlanta. His consistently partners with state and local government agencies and nongovernmental organizations and his studio reports have been considered in policy decision and design choice by governments and non-profit organizations frequently over the years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBruce Stiftel, chair of the School of City and Regional Planning, writes in his nomination letter, \u201cOn three occasions [Dobbins\u2019] projects earned statewide awards from the Georgia Planning Association, and in 2012, Dobbins\u2019 students\u2019 Action Plan for the Fort Macpherson Community received the American Institute of Certified Planners\u2019 national Outstanding Student Project Award, only the second time in our school\u2019s history that this prestigious national award was brought home to Georgia Tech.\u201d The plan proposes to redevelop Fort McPherson in a way that benefits the neighborhoods that surround it, and addresses how future development can complement surrounding community characteristics. Most recently, Dobbins\u2019 and his studio members have been working with Atlanta City Council Member Natalyn Archibong to implement the \u201cImagine Memorial\u201d corridor plan for revitalization along Memorial Drive. This dedication to bettering Atlanta neighborhoods and engaging students in real community issues is articulated clearly in the nomination letters that Dobbins\u2019 received from his colleagues for the Innovation and Excellence in Laboratory Instruction Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEllen Dunham-Jones, professor in architecture and urban design at Tech, has worked with Dobbins since he came to Tech. \u201cA naturally generous teacher with wide-ranging knowledge and experience, he has an unparalleled ability to straddle diverse worlds: architecture and planning, academia and practice, democratic ideals and political realities,\u201d she writes. \u201cStudents emerge from his CityLabs with a profound and ambitious understanding of their ability to lead collaborative change.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese students express just as high a regard for their professor as Dobbin\u2019s colleagues do. They laud his engaging and facilitative teaching, vast network of connections, emphasis on collaboration, and his studio\u2019s real-world applications. \u201cThis studio taught me more than any other class in the program\u2019s curriculum about the reality of the planning profession and the various intersections of thought and analysis required,\u201d writes Ranjani Prabhakar, a second year MCRP student. \u201cProfessor Michael Dobbins is well known for his years of experience working with key City officials and stakeholders, as well as his demeanor and approach to the class as an equal participant in our studio, which mostly acted like a group of consultants on a high-level project. The concept of this studio as a living laboratory within the confines of the City of Atlanta was one of the best experiences within my graduate career.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStiftel reflected on the values that Dobbins\u2019 work has fostered: \u201cProfessor of Practice Mike Dobbins is a master of project selection, client relations, planning vision and student mentoring who not only consistently achieves the promise of experiential learning, but whose students leave Georgia Tech ready to overcome the most demanding professional challenges.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of City and Regional Planning professor Mike Dobbins has been selected by Georgia Tech as the recipient of this year\u2019s Innovation and Excellence in Laboratory Instruction Award. The award is open to full-time general faculty of any rank who have excelled in teaching in the laboratory.\u0026nbsp; The \u201claboratory\u201d can be broadly defined to include both traditional science labs and other formal courses that include experiential learning where students participate in the processes of investigation, analysis, and reflection in order to reach a deeper understanding of course concepts.\u0026nbsp;Dobbins is the first non-scientist in Tech history to receive the award. He will be honored at the 2015 Faculty and Staff Awards Luncheon, 17 April, from noon to 1:30pm in the Georgia Tech Student Center Ballroom.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of City and Regional Planning professor Mike Dobbins has been selected by Georgia Tech as the recipient of this year\u2019s Innovation and Excellence in Laboratory Instruction Award."}],"uid":"28044","created_gmt":"2015-03-12 15:43:09","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:55","author":"Jessie Brandon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-03-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-03-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"98191":{"id":"98191","type":"image","title":"Michael Dobbins faculty photo","body":null,"created":"1449178142","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:29:02","changed":"1475894712","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:12","alt":"Michael Dobbins faculty photo","file":{"fid":"193936","name":"dobbinsphoto.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dobbinsphoto_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/dobbinsphoto_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":173072,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/dobbinsphoto_0.jpg?itok=G5kOrF6l"}}},"media_ids":["98191"],"groups":[{"id":"1221","name":"College of Design"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"42911","name":"Education"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"101","name":"Award"},{"id":"121381","name":"campus-wide"},{"id":"1351","name":"City and Regional Planning"},{"id":"53221","name":"dobbins"},{"id":"641","name":"ellen dunham-jones"},{"id":"14332","name":"fort mcpherson"},{"id":"121391","name":"Innovation and Excellence in Laboratory Instruction Award"},{"id":"1499","name":"Institute"},{"id":"102621","name":"memorial drive"},{"id":"121401","name":"ranjani prabhakar"},{"id":"169021","name":"stiftel"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"},{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}