Beth Tauke retires after more than 40 years of empowering design for all
Since joining UB in 1985, Beth Tauke has left an indelible imprint on the intellectual life of the School, touched thousands of students, and transformed the pedagogy and practice of design through the lens of inclusion. Photo by Douglas Levere
Rachel Teaman July 24, 2026
In a 1998 exhibition called remnant/referent, Beth Tauke, UB associate professor of architecture, and collaborating visual artist Mary Lum, displayed a collection of found objects and texts from abandoned urban structures in Buffalo, examining them as remnants of labor. The local exhibition and resulting book publication considered such questions such as: How does work construct the identity of a place and the people in it? And what remains after a building is abandoned, products of work are lost or discarded, or a worker retires?
Such inquiry takes on a more personal relevance today as the School of Architecture and Planning reflects on the traces of Tauke herself. The design educator and scholar retired from UB at the end of this academic year, after more than 40 years of teaching, research, and service dedicated to empowering underrepresented and marginalized populations through design.
Since joining UB in 1985, the expert in inclusive design and design education has left an indelible imprint on the intellectual life of the School, touched thousands of students, colleagues and community members, and transformed the pedagogy and practice of design through the lens of inclusion.
“Beth Tauke exemplifies ‘design for all,’ instilling equity, inclusiveness, and a spirit of kindness in everything she does, from introducing first-year architecture students to the foundations of spatial analysis, to expanding the use of universal design worldwide, to serving our School and university on countless committees,” says Dean Julia Czerniak. “We are ever grateful for her contributions to our School, to the profession and discipline of architecture, and to our surrounding community in Buffalo.”
Says Erkin Özay, chair and associate professor in the Department of Architecture: “Beth represents the best of us in the School. I have never worked with a more generous colleague who did everything in their power to advance and support not only students, but also the full range of communities often left invisible by traditional practices of architecture and design.”
“Her background in design also makes her a rare figure in architecture academia, bringing design thinking and perspectives as diverse as visual perception and geometry to the teaching and practice of architecture,” Özay says of Tauke, who holds both a Master of Arts and Master of Fine Arts in Design from the University of Iowa and bachelor’s degrees in psychology, art, and education.
An internationally regarded scholar in inclusive design, she has worked tirelessly to expand the use of universal design by design professionals and to integrate its principals into architecture programs around the world. As project director for the School’s Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center), she founded and directed the Universal Design Education Online project to develop and disseminate universal design education materials online. She was also principal investigator for three National Endowment for the Arts leadership grants: “Bridging the Gap: Increasing Access to Universal Design to Meet the Needs of African American Communities” to integrate African American cultural experiences into architectural research and education and bring inclusive design to Historically Black Colleges and Universities; the Universal Design Identity Program to promote increased understanding, acceptance, and use of universal design; and a nation-wide assessment of The State of Universal Design Education in University-Level Design Curricula.
Tauke has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, book publications, and conference proceedings on topics ranging from the state of universal design in interior design curricula to inclusive housing and product design. In 2002, she and Edward Steinfeld, IDEA Center founder and SUNY Distinguished Professor of Architecture Emeritus, published the seminal “Universal Designing” book chapter (in Universal Design: 17 Ways of Thinking and Teaching), expanding the concept of universal design from an accessibility checklist to a continuous process of creating inclusive environments for all. She is also co-editor of the industry guidebook Universal Design New York (2003), with former UB architecture faculty member Scott Danford; and Diversity and Design: Understanding Hidden Consequences (2015, Routledge), with Korydon Smith, UB professor of architecture, and Charles Davis II (MArch ’02, BPS ’10), associate professor of architectural history and criticism at the University of Texas Austin and a previous UB architecture faculty member.
Steinfeld reflects on Tauke’s scholarly legacies: “Her contributions to the intellectual foundation of inclusive design are well known throughout the world. Likewise, she is internationally known in the field of beginning design. We have collaborated in teaching, research, and design work, leading to some of the most memorable events and achievements of my own career.”
“Beth brings unique creativity and high enthusiasm to everything she does,” he continues. “She also has a breadth of knowledge and degree of emotional intelligence that constantly amazes me.”
- Edward Steinfeld, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Architecture Emeritus and founder of the IDEA Center
Her contributions to the intellectual foundation of inclusive design are well-known throughout the world...We have collaborated in teaching, research, and design work, leading to some of the most memorable events and achievements of my own career.
An award-winning educator, Tauke has led first-year architecture studios, inclusive design seminars, and electives as diverse as color perception and the body as a site of design. Her teaching and advoacy has brought diversity and design to general undergraduate curricula nationwide. Photo by Mahan Mehrvarz
A fiercely devoted educator, Tauke has guided students through first-year architecture studios, inclusive design seminars, and electives on color perception and the body as a site for design. She is also one of the program’s most sought-after mentors, providing counsel to hundreds of students and junior faculty members, and serving as advisor or committee member for more than 65 Master of Architecture student theses over the course of her career. She has been recognized with multiple teaching awards, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the President Emeritus and Mrs. Meyerson Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring, and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Robert R. Taylor Award supporting faculty development focusing on underrepresented groups.
“Beth is undoubtedly the best teacher and mentor with whom I have ever interacted. She set the foundation for me early in my education – to be curious, to treat everything as an experiment, and to engage with the world through deep design inquiry. I lean on that foundation everyday as an architect and as a teacher,” says Christopher Romano (MArch '05, BS Arch '03), assistant professor of architecture, whose relationship with Tauke spans 25 years, first as a student in the early 2000s, then as a teaching assistant in Tauke’s first-year studios, and more recently as co-instructor and faculty mentee.
For Queenie Tong (BPS ’02), co-owner of Tong Dong Architects in New York City, Tauke shaped her outlook on design, and the world. “She opened my eyes to design as a way of seeing, thinking, and engaging with the world. Through her teaching in space and geometry, she helped me see that architecture is not only about form, but about relationships – between people and place, proportion and experience, light and atmosphere, color and emotion.”
Josh Diamond (MArch ’21, BAED ’19), who first met Tauke an undergraduate student in her class on Architecture and the Body, says Tauke is the reason he is an architect today. “After transferring to UB from art school, I felt lost on how to grow. Soon after approaching Beth about one of her lectures, she not only encouraged me on ways to pursue my niche design interests but helped me realize why I needed to pursue architecture as a profession,” says Diamond, adding that Tauke met with him weekly and helped him create his first design portfolio. He is now an architectural assessor at FOS of CannonDesign.
Often it was Tauke’s warmth and kindness that carried students through the program, and beyond.
“During my time as a student and later as her colleague, Beth taught me that, in all things, it is worth the effort to lead with kindness,” says Megan Hellaby (MArch ’13), who worked with Tauke at the IDEA Center as a research associate after graduating from UB. “Architecture school, not unlike life and practice, can be daunting. Within that environment, she showed me the impact of a simple smile and a word of encouragement. Because of Beth, I, along with many other former students and colleagues, carry this reminder that kindness is not separate from excellence in our field,” says Hellaby, an architect in facilities management for the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Despina Stratigakos, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Architecture and former UB vice provost for inclusive excellence, agrees. She says Tauke was an “essential guide” when she arrived in Buffalo 20 years ago. “Whenever I asked her how to get from Point A to Point B, she would listen attentively and offer practical advice. And then, with her typical understated gentleness, she would ask if I had considered Point C. And, of course, Point C was a much better idea. A great many of us have arrived at better places because of Beth.”
- Queenie Tong (BPS ’02)
Through her teaching in space and geometry, she helped me see that architecture is not only about form, but about relationships – between people and place, proportion and experience, light and atmosphere, color and emotion.
- Megan Hellaby (MArch '13)
Because of Beth, I, along with many other former students and colleagues, carry this reminder that kindness is not separate from excellence in our field.
Tauke, who once said in a 2014 TEDxUniversityatBuffalo talk, “I am a design student who is lucky enough to teach,” is widely known for her UB General Education curriculum course, “American Diversity and Design,” which she began teaching in 2002 to students from across the disciplines at UB. Through the study of literature, film, products, electronic media, and buildings and environments, the course explores how design shapes the experiences of underrepresented groups and how those groups, in turn, shape design. Since moving online during the COVID pandemic, the course regularly enrolls more than 600 students SUNY wide.
Yosi Hoffman (MArch ’26, BAED ’23) met Tauke in 2021, when he enrolled in the course as a BAED student. “Even though the class was online and asynchronous, she found a way to interact with every student and make each of us feel engaged,” says Hoffman.
He would later work under Tauke as a teaching assistant for the course during his graduate studies. He remains in touch with her as an alumnus. “I still receive emails from Beth recommending awards to apply for, always accompanied by an offer to write a recommendation letter – one of her favorite pastimes.”
- Beth Tauke
I am a design student who is lucky enough to teach.
For more than a decade, Beth Tauke coordinated UB's engagement in the Buffalo Architecture Foundation's Architecture + Education program, engaging local architects and UB architecture students with Buffalo Public Schools to expose the city's youth to the built and natural environment. Photo by Douglas Levere
Tauke brought an ethic of service across her many roles with both the School and university and the broader region. Among her leadership appointments are multiple tenures as associate dean for academic affairs for the School of Architecture and Planning, associate interim chair for the Department of Architecture, and chair of UB’s University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. She has been a dedicated member of the UB Faculty Senate, serving on its committees for academic planning, teaching and learning, and tenure and privileges.
For over a decade, she coordinated UB’s engagement in the Buffalo Architecture Foundation’s Architecture + Education program, which connects real-world architects, many of them UB alumni, and UB architecture students with the Buffalo Public Schools to expose the city’s youth to the built and natural environment. An impassioned champion of Buffalo’s historic grain elevators, she was a leading voice in the preservationist community’s ultimately unsuccessful campaign to halt the demolition of The Great Northern, which Tauke argued was a “an icon of [Buffalo’s] architecturally significant collection of grain silos,” in a 2022 editorial column for The Buffalo News.
She is also among the School’s greatest alumni ambassadors, cultivating lifelong relationships with her former students.
“In my almost 13 years as dean of the School, Beth Tauke was the name most often heard from the alumni I met around the world,” says Robert Shibley, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Architecture and director of UB’s Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence, under whose leadership Tauke served as associate dean for academic affairs. “Her leadership in undergraduate education, the IDEA Center, national initiatives in universal design, and committees of every stripe has extended the School’s influence far beyond Buffalo.”
“Yet her greatest legacy lies in the generosity of her service – encouraging students to realize their potential, mentoring faculty, championing colleagues, and fostering a culture of excellence, integrity, and kindness,” Shibley continues.
Reflecting on her own “remnants,” Tauke recently shared that some of her most inspiring moments came not from finished projects, but from witnessing the transformation of her students. “These moments happened when students begin to see themselves or their work differently – when a hesitant first-year student has that ‘aha’ moment, or when a student finally realizes the building section that they have been resisting for three weeks actually explains the whole project.”
“After 40 years of teaching, what I feel most is gratitude,” continues Tauke. “It might sound cliché, but I truly feel that I have never worked a day in my life. Every day, I left the School energized by the curiosity, generosity, and creativity of the people around me.”
- Beth Tauke
After 40 years of teaching, what I feel most is gratitude. It might sound cliché, but I truly feel that I have never worked a day in my life.
