Karen YunJin Seong
Director, School of Architecture
Acting Director, School of Landscape Architecture
Karen is a proponent of online education as a means to meaningfully diversify the architectural profession. She has also advocated for community-based design projects based on her belief that architects have a responsibility to serve in the interest of the public. Under her leadership, student work was recognized with AIA SF Leadership Award, ACSA Conference Presentation, and NBC Bay Area news coverage.
Karen developed her professional expertise while with the multi-national firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Karen held leadership positions working collaboratively with large international teams on award-winning projects ranging from high-rises in Manhattan and Kuwait, a bioscience research building for Rice University, college campuses for the Kuwaiti government, and artist James Turrell’s Roden Crater Fumarole in Arizona. She is a licensed architect in California and New York, a LEED accredited professional, and NCARB certified. She serves on the board of the San Francisco chapter of American Institute of Architects and is a professional member of the National Organization of Minority Architects.
Karen received a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture with High Honors from UC Berkeley and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University with distinction. Karen has previously taught at her alma mater, UC Berkeley, and has been a guest critic at various institutions in the US and in Korea. She was born in South Korea and lived in Malaysia before immigrating to the US at age 19.
Courses Taught
