AIA Nebraska Award for Architectural | Design Education

Recognizes a living person of esteemed character who has rendered distinguished service to the profession of architecture design or to the arts science in a Nebraska institution of higher learning.
Must be nominated by an AIA Nebraska member, faculty member, current student, or former student and have made a significant contribution to architectural education. The candidate shall have had a cumulative effect on many students and influenced a wide range of students. The candidate shall be a person whose activities have consistently influenced students and provided the ability to make connections between the educator’s particular areas of expertise and other areas as appropriate. (Established 2020)

2024 AIA Nebraska Award for Architectural | Design Education Award

Stephanie Ling, AIA

Stephanie Ling, AIA, was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. Her interest and love for design was fostered by her mother, a retired landscape architect. Steph takes pride in her winding path through and toward architecture education which involved earning college credits from 5 different universities in 3 different countries, a year of federal service in the United States AmeriCorps in Greensburg, KS, and experience working on lots of different types of projects throughout the design and construction process while in private practice.

Stephanie’s approachable, flexible, and inclusive teaching style empowers students to forge their own path to success in architecture or in life in general. Stephanie is a passionate and dedicated full-time teacher at Metropolitan Community College (MCC) in Omaha, NE. Since 2017 she has been the Architectural Design Technology (ARCH) Program Coordinator and one of two full-time faculty. Her strategic vision and leadership have reshaped the ARCH program’s industry involvement, enrollment, learning outcomes, curriculum development, articulation agreements, and most importantly, the bright futures of her many students over the last 7+ years.

From 2012-2016, Stephanie was a mentor and teacher to multiple award-winning teams of high school students competing in the SAME Student Mentoring Program (SMP) with architecture and engineering solutions. In that time, she worked at Studio951, Encompass Architects, p.c., and Holland Basham Architects in Lincoln and Omaha and completed her AXP and AREs to become a licensed architect in Nebraska.

Stephanie is an accessible leader in Omaha’s design education landscape through her community presence and involvement in multiple organizations including the AIA, Nebraska Women in Architecture, Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) – Omaha Post, Coalition of Community College Architecture Programs (CCCAP), Omaha by Design – Open Omaha and more. Find her featured in ‘The Cube’ at the Kiewit Luminarium along with 10 other impactful community organizers and leaders or on MCC’s Fort Omaha Campus at the Construction Education Center.

Architectural | Design Education Award Recipients

2024 Stephanie Ling, AIA

2023 Vanessa Schutte, AIA

2022 Katherine Ankerson, AIA

2021 David Karle, Assoc. AIA

2020 Jeffrey L. Day, FAIA