Professor Umber Hanlon
About
Professor Hanlon is an educator, theorist and developer who has served as an educational leader for 15-years empowering over 15,000 aspiring architects through her passion for teaching. Some of her students include the most accomplished architects in the world. She has studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology, holds a Bachelor in Architecture from University of Illinois, as well as, a Master of Architecture from Newschool of Architecture. As a registered architect Professor Hanlon has practiced nationally and internationally in the various roles of: Design Architect, Project Engineer, Urban Planner, Construction Manager, President, Founder, Commissioner, and Director. Some of her notable works include urban planning of the Dubai Palm Islands, as well as, design of K-12 schools in Florida and California.
As a professor, she has lectured at over 50-college campuses throughout the US included University of Washington, Newschool of Architecture, and California State University.
In 2006, noting distress among aspiring architects, Professor Hanlon founded Funkaar Institute, which grew to become the largest architectural licensure education program in the nation.
In 2012, dissatisfied with lack of professional skills taught at traditional architecture schools, she formulated an accreditation standard to improve architectural engineering education to challenge the current lawyer led education system. This further led to the formation of the American Board of Architecture (ABA) as the second largest accreditation body for architecture schools in the and launched a pilot school, Adroit School of Architecture as a pilot program of ABA. In 2013, Professor Hanlon penned and published the concept of 'License Upon Graduation' as an alternative licensure path for architects which has since swept the profession of architecture. In fall of 2014, the California board of examiners to publicly issued a support statement to encourage licensure upon graduation and an alternative licensing path to current standards.
Today, Professor Hanlon is recognized in the industry as a pioneer in architectural education.
