UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Mindy Cooper, a 2003 Penn State Stuckeman School landscape architecture alumna and principal at the Austin, Texas-based firm dwg., will deliver a lecture about her career and design interests at noon on Sept. 12 in the Stuckeman Family Building Jury Space.

A 2024 recipient of the College of Arts and Architecture’s Alumni Award, Cooper is passionate about helping individuals and organizations chart a course toward success that is driven by their unique purpose. She has played an active role in developing dwg.’s organizational structure and firm strategy during her 12-year tenure, and she currently leads a team that is focused on public-private partnerships and academic clients.  

Cooper’s projects have garnered numerous Texas American Society of Landscape Architecture Honor and Merit Awards and have been recognized by the Austin chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Urban Land Institute Austin and Austin Green Awards. 

Some of Cooper’s most recent projects include the Rainey Trailhead Park at the Ann and Roy Butler Trail, Music Lane and St. John Encampment Commons at Austin Community College Highland Campus, all located in Austin. Other projects that are currently in the design phase include the Allegheny Landing Park in Pittsburgh and the University of Texas Undergraduate School of Business.  

Cooper has served as chair of the AIA-Austin Urban Design Committee and as a planning committee member of the AIA-Austin Leadership Collective program. She is a licensed landscape architect in the states of Texas, Nebraska, North Carolina, New York and Pennsylvania.

The lecture is free and open to the public.