Allan W. Shearer, FASLA

University of Texas, Austin
by Staff

Texas Chapter Category: Knowledge

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Texas Chapter Category: Knowledge

Through research, extensive publications, education, and community leadership, Allan Shearer has strengthened the profession's understanding of the intertwined complexity of multiple factors: climate change, natural resources depletion and degradation, urbanization, technological and economic disruption, and security. Allan's research centers on how individuals, communities, and societies create scenarios of the future and how they inform present-day decisions. His work on security and understanding uncertainties that may lead to national, environmental, or human security problems has been cited and embraced by the NATO Urbanization Project. As an educator, he broadens the discipline of landscape architecture by developing teaching methods that enable students to structure complex problems through innovative design thinking using "abduction to argument." Shearer was recognized by the Design Futures Council as one of the "30 Most Influential Educators," received a citation for Excellence in Research and Creative Works from the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, and earned a Teaching Excellence award from the University of Texas, where he has taught since 2009. And, as Co-Director and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) and as Associate Dean for Research and Technology, he has helped elected officials, government staff, and stakeholders learn how the theories, methods, and practices of landscape architecture contribute to sustainable place-making.