Established in 1973 by the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, the first class of 16 students graduated from the ÇÑ×ÓÊÓƵ School of Architecture in May 1978.
I chose CAAD at ÇÑ×ÓÊÓƵ because of the community. A strong community in a studio environment was really important to me. Everyone at CAAD at ÇÑ×ÓÊÓƵ, from staff to students, makes you feel welcomed and a part of a larger family.
As someone who enjoys being active, my favorite place is the Sanderson Center. It is where I go to take a break from school.
After graduating from the School of Architecture in 1996, Stephen Allen worked for a time in Mississippi before joining Williams Blackstock Architects in Birmingham, Alabama. He became a partner in 2010 and president of the firm in 2022.
Michael A. Berk, AIA, is the former director (2009-2019) of the School of Architecture at Mississippi State University and former faculty member (29 years) where he held the F.L. Crane Endowed Professorship. In 2019 Berk was named director emeritus and professor emeritus by the ÇÑ×ÓÊÓƵ Provost’s Office and currently maintains an office in the Carl Small Town Center at the ÇÑ×ÓÊÓƵ School of Architecture. Berk was recently nominated and appointed to the Gulf Scholars Program in the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine (in 2021; and reappointed in 2025).