Profile

M.L.A. University of Oregon, 1977
B.Arch. University of Oregon, 1971

Associate Professor Glenda Utsey is interested in visual interpretations of physical spaces and the representation of design ideas. She teaches design studio, media courses, and a seminar on intentional communities. Utsey has also served as director of the UO Summer Architecture Academy and for ten years has held the role of associate head for student affairs for the UO Department of Architecture.

Utsey collaborates on site planning, landscape design, and residential design projects throughout the Pacific Northwest. Her work with Professor Emeritus Michael Utsey has appeared in Traditional Home Magazine, Home Magazine, House Beautiful, and a promotional video on Eugene produced by the Eugene Chamber of Commerce. She also collaborated with Professor Jenny Young on a competition entry for The Women’s Rights National Historic Park in Seneca, New York, that was selected for publication. Utsey’s interest in the externalization and communication of design process and with developing methods of communication that clearly describe design intent became the focus of an exhibit and lecture presented at a national meeting of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.

Following an undergraduate experience assisting a professor in the mapping of Mayan settlement patterns at Edzna in Campeche, Mexico, Utsey continued to explore the relationship between the site and the built environment as a planner with the New Haven City Planning Department in Connecticut. Her more recent investigations have focused on rural America and also on the Orkney Islands of Scotland, where she investigated the impact of migration and ownership on settlement patterns from prehistoric times to the present.

Frequently involved with outreach programs introducing local youth to architecture and related disciplines, Utsey was the recipient of a special recognition award from the UO Office of Multicultural Affairs in 2001.