Audrey Schultz has been named chair of Construction Management, Facilities Management, and Real Estate Practice in Pratt’s School of Architecture. A tenured professor in the department, she has over 30 years in the field and has concentrated on the whole building life cycle, including teaching and professional positions in interior architecture, construction, facilities management, strategic management, and project planning. She assumed the chair role on July 1, 2022.
“Professor Schultz’s scholarship and long-established service work across the Institute are highly regarded and deeply appreciated,” said Harriet Harriss, dean of the School of Architecture. “They are also indicative of the commitment, collegiality, and pedagogic passion she possesses—qualities that ensure outstanding stewardship”
As chair, Schultz will oversee a department that includes undergraduate and graduate degrees that technically prepare students for careers in all aspects of the built environment, from project development and construction to operations and maintenance of facilities.
“Previous chairs have set the foundation and I graciously take the torch and will continue to highlight our programs’ growth and student, faculty, and staff success,” Schultz said. “Developing a like-minded team of staff and faculty, along with industry colleagues, to empower student leaders is our main goal. Leadership is all about mentoring the next generation toward successful academic and industry careers, and building sustainable long-lasting relationships through the years to come.”
She has been an active leader at the Institute as a member of the Academic Senate Executive Committee and the Provost Council and participated on the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Board to help develop the first-ever Pratt CTL. She also has been pivotal in establishing interdisciplinary initiatives like the Minor in Entrepreneurship for which she serves as coordinator. Since April 2020, she has served on the Post Pandemic Remobilization Operations Task Force (PPRO), helping to lead the Institute safely through the pandemic. She is in her third year of co-chairing the Campus Security Committee.
Schultz has extensive academic accreditation experience with the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) Facility Management Accreditation Commission (FMAC) Facility Management (FM) program accreditation and the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) accreditation and is an Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) program evaluator (PEV) program peer reviewer. Currently, she co-chairs standard VI for Pratt’s Middle States Commission of Higher Education (MSCHE) self-study accreditation.
Before arriving at Pratt, Schultz taught interior design at Northern Virginia Community College and construction management at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). Her international research and publishing experience includes work on design science and action research, soft systems methodology, design thinking, transformational strategies and change management, lean visual management systems, building information modeling (BIM), and community redevelopment public-private partnership (PPP)’s relationships. Along with professional work in facilities planning and operations, and on design and construction projects ranging from car dealerships and healthcare to commercial and high-profile government facilities, she currently serves as vice president on the executive board of the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) Metro NY/NJ Chapter and its director of student outreach, coordinating a program that bestowed $75,000 in scholarships this June.
Her honors include prestigious awards at the academic and industry level, such as both the Distinguished Author and Distinguished Educator Award from the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) and a CMAA Educator of the Year Award. She holds a Ph.D. in the Built Environment from the University of Salford in England, a Master of Science in Architecture/Construction Management from Virginia Tech, a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design from Marymount University, and an Associate of Science in Fashion Merchandise from St. Petersburg Junior College.