SARUP Faculty Recognized with ACSA New Faculty Teaching Awards
Two SARUP faculty members have been recognized with the 2025 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) New Faculty Teaching Award. The award acknowledges demonstrated excellence and innovation in teaching during the formative years of an architectural teaching career. This year, Assistant Professors Samantha Schuermann and Adam Thibodeaux are among the four winners of the national award.
Their achievements follow in the footsteps of fellow SARUP faculty members Lindsey Krug and Nikole Bouchard, who have also received ACSA teaching awards in recent years, reinforcing the school’s reputation for excellence in both teaching and research.
Samantha Schuermann: Elevating Student Collaboration in Research
Assistant Professor Samantha Schuermann emphasizes the importance of collaboration among faculty and students in shaping meaningful research and learning experiences.
“Particularly in conjunction with Adam also receiving the award, to me, this indicates that UWM SARUP is doing some exciting things both in research and teaching,” Schuermann said. “I think this award is further evidence that constant collaboration with students is essential and necessary to produce compelling research and projects.”
Schuermann’s interdisciplinary work explores the architectural implications of domestic labor and material culture. She has involved students in research projects, leading to national conference presentations, co-authored publications, and exhibition opportunities.
“Because of this award, we will give presentations at the ACSA Annual Conference in May, so that also means that our SARUP students will be cited for their work. They now have some publications that they are co-authors and co-researchers on, and that’s great,” she added.
Schuermann also highlighted the strong support for research at UWM, noting that collaborations with students inspire her to continue seeking funding for student researchers through initiatives like the Support for Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) program.
“I’ve had SURF students every semester I’ve been at UWM, which has been incredible for outcomes like publishing papers and doing exhibitions. I also have two students now who have had their own abstract accepted for a national conference on undergraduate research related to things that we have been working on together.”
Adam Thibodeaux: Integrating Identity and Architecture in the Studio
Assistant Professor Adam Thibodeaux focuses his teaching and research on reclaiming and preserving the architectural histories of marginalized communities. For him, receiving the ACSA New Faculty Teaching Award is a testament to the collaborative energy within the school.
“It’s an exciting moment because it feels like there’s a lot of new fresh ideas coming into the school and a lot of energy around what feels like similar approaches to teaching,” Thibodeaux said. “It’s motivating to not just engage our own individual research practices but also situate them in context with each other, but most importantly, supported by student researchers. It creates a network that feels charged in a good way.”
Thibodeaux’s work often challenges traditional architectural discourse by incorporating themes of embodied difference and identity into the studio setting. He acknowledges the challenges of advocating for these perspectives in design education but sees them as opportunities for impactful change.
“One challenge is advocating for different perspectives in design studio settings, particularly dealing with issues of embodied difference and marginalized identity. These topics often manifest outside the studio curriculum, but it’s been a goal of mine to integrate them into the core design curriculum,” Thibodeaux said.
“There is a lot of desire among architecture students to see how their own identities impact their work as architects, and I think enabling them to do that has been one of the most meaningful aspects of my teaching.”
He also emphasized the importance of providing students with research opportunities that extend beyond the classroom, allowing them to take ownership of their work.
“A big part of what I can do as new faculty is to leverage my own research practice as a platform for students to develop their work outside of the classroom. We have amazing undergraduate research funding, and it’s critical to bring students along—not just to give them access to resources but to empower them to take ownership of their own research,” Thibodeaux said.
“Like Sam, I’ve been incredibly appreciative of SURF funding to support paid student researchers in expanding upon threads of faculty research through focused, independent research projects where they can leverage our presence as collaborators rather than as instructors.”
A Culture of Excellence at SARUP
The recognition of Schuermann and Thibodeaux reflects SARUP’s broader commitment to advancing architectural education through engaged research, innovative pedagogy, and meaningful student-faculty collaboration. Their contributions continue to shape the academic experience at UWM and prepare students to critically engage with the built environment in transformative ways.
“Two of the four recipients of this national award are from SARUP, and I am incredibly proud of that,” said Kyle Reynolds, Acting Head of School. “But above all, I am proud of Sam and Adam. This is well-deserved recognition, and I look forward to seeing their continued impact on architecture students year after year.”
Jurors for the AIAS/ACSA New Faculty Teaching Award included Christian Brack, Oklahoma State University; Joshua Foster, East Los Angeles College; Gilberto Lozada Báez, American Institute of Architecture Students; and June Williamson, City College of New York.
The winners will be celebrated at the ACSA 113th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA, in March.
