The Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to announce that Sanjita Basnet, a graduate student in the Master’s in Regional and City Planning program at the University of Oklahoma, has been selected as a recipient of the 2025 American Planning Association (APA) Foundation Diversity Scholarship.
Awarded by the APA Foundation, the highly competitive scholarship supports students who intend to pursue careers in planning and who bring diverse perspectives to the profession. This year, only 21 students nationwide were selected to receive the award, which provides $5,000 in direct support toward academic expenses.
Basnet’s academic work and professional aspirations are grounded in community-engaged planning and the creation of built environments that respond meaningfully to the people they serve. Reflecting on the honor, she shared that receiving the 2025 APA Foundation Diversity Scholarship will have a significant impact on her academic and professional journey.
With her planning degree, Basnet is committed to prioritizing community input as a central component of sustainable community development and responsible planning practice. She described the scholarship as more than financial support, noting that it brings together planning professionals from a wide range of backgrounds and empowers recipients to address long-standing challenges within the field. Basnet expressed deep gratitude to the APA Foundation for its generous support and for investing in the next generation of planners.
Gibbs College congratulates Sanjita Basnet on this outstanding honor and looks forward to the impact she will continue to make through her academic and professional work.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to announce the promotion of Ph.D. student Rafael Hernandez to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.
Gibbs College of Architecture Assistant Professor Dr. Ladan Mozaffarian, in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design, has co-authored a new book chapter with Josh Newton and Andrew Born, published in De Gruyter Handbook of the Geographies of Race.
Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design (PLAD) alumni Trey Ingram, AICP recently spoke with current PLAD student and graduate media assistant Molly Strobel to share his experiences with the Regional and City Planning program and current work with the Toyota Mobility Foundation.