Ever since sketching themepark rides as a six-year-old inspired by Disney’s Tower of Terror™, interior design graduate Karina Nelson (BS, ‘26) dreamed of creating immersive worlds. Now, after years of blending storytelling, design, and experiential thinking at the University of Minnesota College of Design, she is beginning her career with Walt Disney Imagineering. Nelson shared her reflections on the mentors, projects, and moments that shaped her path from aspiring “Imagineer” to professional designer. 

Through internships, leadership roles, and industry connections, Bailey Collmann (BS, Retail Merchandising, ’23) transformed her passion for retail into a full-time career at Target Corporation. Her journey highlights the hands-on learning and real-world opportunities that define the Retail & Consumer Studies program.

As cities around the world confront questions of growth, livability, and equity, Sungduck Lee, Assistant Professor and Director of the Geosocial Visualization Lab at the College of Design, offers a new way to think about the impacts of density and the communities it affects. Her new co-authored book, Urban Density Contextualized: Design Strategies for Building Density in Cities (Routledge), examines how design can foster more inclusive, resilient, and human-centered urban environments.

Landscape Architecture graduates from the College of Design are building careers that extend far beyond traditional practice. From climate resilience planning and campus development to cultural landscape preservation and public parks leadership, alumni are applying design thinking in powerful, interdisciplinary ways. Their work demonstrates how an education in landscape architecture equips graduates to navigate complex systems, collaborate across disciplines, and shape resilient, inclusive places.

When Fraser Hall reopened in the Fall of 2025, it redefined how the University of Minnesota teaches chemistry. Architect and professor at the College of Design, Jennifer Yoos, shares how her team at VJAA transformed the historic building into a collaborative, sustainable space for student learning.

Adrienne Bockheim (MLA ‘10) discovered her passion for landscape architecture after the realization that it encompassed everything that fascinated her. Her work, first as a graduate student and then as a project coordinator, with the College of Design’s Minnesota Design Center laid the foundation for a career uniting landscape architecture and urban planning. As a principal city planner for the City of Minneapolis, Bockheim plays a pivotal role in transformative projects like the New Nicollet Redevelopment. In this interview, she shares insights into her career trajectory, offers advice to students, and reflects on how her time at the college shaped her successful career path.

Appointed the state director of USDA Rural Development South Dakota by President Joe Biden, Alumna Nikki Gronli’s (BS ‘96, Design Communications) diverse career journey has included working in design and advertising for music labels, pizza brands, and tech companies, before taking a pivotal shift toward public service. As state director, Gronli has over 70 programs under her purview and orchestrates a team of 31 specialists dedicated to fostering rural prosperity. In this interview, Gronli talks about her career path, her commitment to lifelong learning, and shares advice for students.

A recipient of the 2023 U40 Alumni Leader Award, Patrick Puckett has been a longstanding advocate for the University of Minnesota, the College of Design, and the important connections design students make that lead to future career success. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, Puckett carved out a path in user experience (UX) design. In this interview, Puckett talks about his current work as an experience designer, the skills it takes to be successful in the field, and shares advice for current design students.

Max Dickson (he/him) earned a Master of Landscape Architecture and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota in 2019. After graduation, Dickson moved to Philadelphia to work with OLIN, an internationally awarded landscape architecture and urban design firm. At OLIN, Dickson’s work has focused on district-scale urban spaces, and leading the emergent research initiative through OLIN Labs called PrideScapes, an exploration of LGBTQ+ landscapes and people within the field of landscape architecture.

​Sara Lopez (​BS ’12, Apparel Design) ​wants you to stop and think about your clothing. Profiled in outlets like Vogue, Elle, and W Magazine, Lopez's work considers clothing's purpose in society and what its modern use says about our world. Her label, A--Company, deconstructs one piece of clothing at a time through the lens of critical theory and queer studies to create something entirely new. In this interview, Lopez talks about the experiences that shaped her work, her design approach, and shares advice for current design students.