Early Academics’ Retreat
Navigating the Tenure and Promotion Process
Paola Aguirre Serrano, AICP
Paola Aguirre Serrano is a native from the Mexico-U.S. region (Chihuahua), urban designer and partner at Borderless Studio since 2016. Borderless is an architecture and urban design practice based in San Antonio and Chicago focused on approaches and collaboration frameworks addressing spatial justice and equitable design while cultivating collaborative design agency. Paola’s work at Borderless has been recognized by The Architecture League of New York with the Emerging Voices Award, the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation’s Creative Placemaking Award, The Americans for the Arts Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design, and the United States Artists Fellowship. Paola is an active civic design steward and has served as Chicago Landmarks Commissioner, the Scholarly Advisory Committee for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino, and currently serves in the Council to Keep San Antonio Moving. She holds a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from the Harvard School of Design.
A.L. Hu (they/them) is a Bay Area-based transgenderqueer Taiwanese American architect, artist, and facilitator using spatial design to dream and manifest racial, class, and gender justice. Their collaborative practice straddles corporate work, speculative discourse, and community organizing. As a Registered Architect, A.L. designs accessible, inclusive spaces as part of the Higher Education Studio at SmithGroup. A.L. organizes with Design as Protest (DAP) and Dark Matter U (DMU). A.L. is on the Board of Directors of The Architecture Lobby (TAL) and Association for Community Design (ACD).
Joss Kiely, PhD
Joss Kiely is an Associate Professor at the School of Architecture and Interior Design at the University of Cincinnati where he teaches courses in architectural history and design studio at the undergraduate and graduate level and undertakes a robust scholarly agenda. His book, Master Plan: Soft Power and the Politics of Architectural Expertise, co-authored with Michael Abrahamson, will be published by Princeton University Press in early 2027, and which has been generously supported by the Furthermore/J.M. Kaplan Fund and the Leonard A. Lauder/Metropolitan Museum of Art Publication Grants.
Before joining the faculty at the University of Cincinnati in 2019, Joss taught at the University of Michigan and at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Joss currently serves as the At-Large Member of the board of the Southeastern Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians (SESAH), on the Development Committee of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH), and the treasurer of the U Blue Hills French-American exchange program based in Paris.
He holds a Master of Architecture, a Master of Science in Architecture, and a Ph.D. in Architecture (History and Theory) from the Taubman College at the University of Michigan, as well as a B.A. in French and Architectural Studies from Connecticut College.