Professor Emeritus and former dean of the College of Environment and Design Jack Crowley was honored by the University of Oklahoma Gibbs College of Architecture for his service to the school and his lifetime career achievements.
On Oct. 2, 2025, professor emeritus and former dean of the College of Environment and Design Jack Crowley was inducted by his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, into the Gibbs College of Architecture Hall of Fame. The honor was awarded for his service to the school and for his lifetime achievements in both industry and academia.
The Gibbs College of Architecture Hall of Fame was established in 2022 to recognize a select number of high-character individuals who have made a significant and lasting positive impact on Gibbs College, its students, staff, faculty, alumni and/or to communities across the globe. At Gibbs College, Crowley earned his Master of Regional and City Planning in 1973, and his PhD in Urban Geography in 1977.
While completing his doctorate, Crowley became the city of Seminole, Oklahoma’s first ever city planner, and in 1974, served as the chief planner of Oklahoma’s state parks, creating the park system’s first comprehensive plan in decades. Shortly after, a phone call called Crowley and his wife, Ann, down to Georgia to teach landscape architecture at then, the School of Environment and Design.
“Ann and I looked at a map, found our ‘hippie’ way to Georgia to teach something that I wasn’t sure I knew what it was but was told that I had been practicing it at a highly recognized level,” said Crowley.
After just three years of teaching, Crowley was eventually called back to Oklahoma, where he worked as the executive director of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission. In 1980, Crowley became a senior real estate development executive in the private sector whose team built more than $2 billion (1985 dollars) in mixed use projects, and then back to the public sector as Director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. However, his time with the CED would not be done just yet. 20 years later, Crowley would return to the CED: this time, as dean.
In his 10-year tenure as dean, the school transitioned from the School of Environmental Design to the College of Environmental Design, celebrated No. 1 ranking for the BLA program and experienced substantial enrollment growth. In his role as dean, Crowley oversaw the transition from academic quarters to semesters and facilitated the 5-year inclusion “experiment” with the School of Ecology from 2001 to 2006. Crowley also established a graduate program in environmental planning and design (now the Master of Urban Planning and Design) and the Center for Community Design and Preservation (CCDP).
“Jack has had a strong influence on the college and elevated CED’s standing in the eyes of our campus colleagues and our local and regional partners,” said Jennifer Lewis, director of the CCDP. “He embodies creativity and collaboration – two qualities all of us at CED aspire to be known for.”
After his tenure as dean, Crowley continued to teach and advise CED students, returning as a professor in 2018 and conferred to the rank of professor emeritus in 2020.
Today, Crowley continues to advise a number of cities on planning and development matters and gives back through establishing scholarships and professorships in Honduras, at OU and UGA, and at the Athens Cultural Foundation.
Join us in congratulating Jack on this recognition and honor!
