Bricks and mortarboards?

Behavioral research in educational architecture assesses how the built environment can build intellectual community, engage students, and influence learning. That's how the Boston-based EYP Architecture and Engineering firm describes the work of Leila Kamal, its vice president for design and expertise. With LEED green-building accreditation and other credentials, she guides EYP's research in sustainability, energy performance measurement, and the learning impacts of science, technology, engineering, and math facilities as well as campus "live-learn" facilities.

As Skidmore's 2016 F. William Harder Lecturer in Business Administration, Kamal will discuss "Design Impact: How Architecture Can Influence Learning" on Monday, March 21, at 5:30 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium of Palamountain Hall. A reception will follow in the Class of 1967 Lobby outside the auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Skidmore's Harder Professor, Cathy Hill, organized the lecture. She predicts Kamal's remarks will include "her thoughts on the emerging trend of makers' spaces on college campuses and a little about managing creative people. It should be a fascinating lecture."

Named 2015's top firm for sustainability by Architecture magazine, EYP has worked with clients from Keene State College and Skidmore to Emory University and MIT. Among the most notable projects: Boston College Law School's 2006 master plan, Hamilton College's Taylor Science Center, the University of Michigan's North Quad academic and housing complex, and Wheaton College's Mars Center for Science and Technology.

Kamal began her career with EYP in 1997, contributing to academic, student housing, and undergraduate science projects—including classrooms, student interaction spaces, and innovative learning environments—at numerous colleges and universities around the country. Co-author of The Politics and Process of Change: Institutional Building-Planning Teams, she has spoken at Society for College and University Planning conferences, a women's leadership summit of the American Institute of Architects, and other venues. [video interview]

She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

The Harder Lectures began in 1985, thanks to Skidmore parent and trustee F. William Harder, to bring students and faculty together with industry leaders in exploring the current business environment and upcoming challenges.