Although he was born and died in North Texas (Wichita Falls and Tyler), Norm was a proud Sooner. Raised and educated in Wewoka and Norman, he became Midwest City’s first planning director, later assuming the role of planning director for Oklahoma City during the mid-1970s. His career then expanded beyond Oklahoma, leading planning programs for Broward County, FL; Austin, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Durham, NC; Cape Coral, FL; and Wichita Falls, TX. Norm was always in pursuit of innovative solutions to complex challenges.
In Broward County, he drafted Florida’s first mandatory home rule plan and land development code, also implementing the state’s first impact fees. In Austin, he managed the Austinplan process, ensuring the adoption of a mandatory home rule charter amendment. His tenure in Oklahoma City was marked by service on the State Task Force on Planning and Zoning and the Oklahoma State Capitol/Medical Area Zoning Commission.
Norm’s planning efforts were recognized with awards from both the Florida and Nevada chapters of the American Planning Association (APA). Beyond public service, he was a partner in an Oklahoma City development firm, focusing on inner-city housing rehabilitation and shopping center development.
He received a Bachelor of Architecture in 1962 and a Master of Regional and City Planning in 1966, both from the University of Oklahoma.
Norm Standerfer
May 06, 1938 - January 22, 2024
Telesis, a journal produced by students in the University of Oklahoma Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture, has earned first place in the 2026 Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals for its seventh volume, “Unfold.” This marks the fourth time the publication has earned recognition for excellence in student architectural journalism. It shares the honor with student journals from Columbia University, University of Michigan, and Cal Poly.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture congratulates Thinh "Henry" Duong, a master's student in the Division of Interior Design, for earning first place in the 2026 Robert Bruce Thompson Annual Student Light Fixture Design Competition.
Gibbs College of Architecture Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) Director and Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design (PLAD) faculty member Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., recently published a new book, Collective Yearning: Black Women Artists from the Zimmerli Art Museum.
