Tina Patel

Tina Patel is Associate Professor in the Interior Design program of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, at Kent State University. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from India and her MA and MFA in Interior Design from Iowa State University. She has held academic positions of Professor at Algonquin College, Ottawa; Teaching Specialist in Interior Design at University of Minnesota, Instructor and Coordinator of Interior Design Program at South Dakota State University. Prior to teaching, Tina worked at Callison RTKL, Washington DC and Baltimore offices, SVPA Architects, West Des Moines and Solomon Cordwell Buenz, Chicago. 

Her work examines the intersection of people, processes and the built environment. She has presented at national and international conferences and has published her research on learning environments for neurodiversity and underrepresented groups, impact of evolving workplaces on behavior and design pedagogy. Tina has established partnership with community leaders, non-profits and design practices dedicated to empowering communities to expand on teaching methodologies centered on community engagement. Her community engaged pedagogy aims to sharpen students understanding of others with different realities and unfamiliar experiences by utilizing current and on-going social and economic issues affecting our communities.