Dr. Elizabeth Mueller granted Professor Emeritus after 25 years

After 25 years of service, Professor Elizabeth Mueller retires from the School of Architecture, becoming Professor Emeritus effective January 2026. During her tenure, Dr. Mueller made significant contributions and advancements to the School of Architecture, especially in the Community and Regional Planning program. Her scholarly work has been nationally and locally recognized, and her impact within our school community is just as deeply valued. 

Dr. Mueller joined the School of Architecture as a Research Scientist and Lecturer in 2001 and was appointed as Assistant Professor in 2006. She received tenure in 2011 and was promoted to full Professor in 2023. She also served as CRP Graduate Advisor from 2012 to 2017

Over her career, Dr. Mueller has established a strong scholarly reputation and is nationally recognized as a leader in the field of affordable housing. Her work focuses on the ways that patterns of economic and racial segregation and inequality were established and continue to be produced in growing cities. Recently, her work has examined how zoning and private development restrictions continue to undermine quality of life for low-income residents of historically marginalized communities, including through exposure to environmental hazards. In addition to her academic research, over her career she has sought to develop ways of helping cities identify and focus on the challenges facing vulnerable residents and communities. Through her research, she has inspired a generation of scholars to foreground the needs of those least served in housing policies and practices.

Her professional contributions are vast, including work with the City of Austin’s Housing Department, National Institutes of Health, and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Her work has appeared in the leading planning journals, and her co-edited book, The Affordable Housing Reader, by Routledge, has become a principal source for housing and community development educators across the country.

Her work at the School of Architecture has advanced our goals in research and community service. She served as the director of the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) from July 2007 to August 2009 and helped strengthen the foundation for the CSD, which now plays a central role in facilitating the research endeavors of the school at large. 

We celebrate and appreciate her quarter-century of service and commitment to our school and our students.