Treasurer

Madlen Simon, University of Maryland

Madlen Simon is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Maryland and an At-Large ARCC Board Member. Recipient of the AIA Upjohn Research Initiative Award, she applies neuroscience to study human response to the built environments. Simon’s collaboration with colleagues in Iraq was recognized with the Architect Magazine Studio Prize and has led to grants and publications, including a forthcoming book chapter on urban design in Iraq and a Best Paper Award at a recent EAAE-ARCC international conference. A Fellow of UMD’s Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, she coaches design thinking workshops for faculty at the Stanford d.school.

Secretary

Mahyar Hadighi, Texas Tech University

Mahyar Hadighi is an Assistant Professor of Architecture (recently promoted to tenured Associate Professor) and Director of the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation at Texas Tech University. He received his Ph.D. in Architecture from Penn State University, a post-professional Master’s degree in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University, and a Master of Architecture degree from Azad University of Tehran. His work concentrates on modernism understood in relation to historical and contemporary contexts. In particular, he documents examples of modern art and architecture and analyzes them via computational design methodologies in order both to preserve them and to consider them for additional locales and purposes.

At-Large Board Member

Alexandra Staub, Penn State University

Alexandra Staub, Ph.D., is a Professor of Architecture at Penn State University, where she teaches design studio, research methods, and courses on architectural ethics. She has served on the ARCC Board since 2019, with a focus on organizational networking and outreach. After training as a professional architect at the University of the Arts in Berlin, she completed her Ph.D. at the Brandenburg Technical University at Cottbus, Germany. Her research focuses on how our built environment shapes, and is shaped by, our understanding of culture. She has lectured and published widely in the field, including three books published by Routledge.

Ph.D. Student Representative

Nooshin Esmaeili, University of Calgary

Nooshin Esmaeili is a registered architect in Canada, a sessional instructor, and a PhD candidate at the University of Calgary. Her interdisciplinary research bridges architecture, neuroscience, environmental psychology, and mysticism to explore how the built environment can foster human flourishing and transcendence towards a sense of self. A 2023 OBEL Award Teaching Fellow, Nooshin taught “Architecture and Well-being” at the Royal University of Bhutan. She is the current President of the Canada Chapter of the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA) and serves on national research initiatives focused on equity, sustainability, and social value in architecture. Her work advocates spaces that enrich, heal, inspire, and connect.