We are here to help our students develop into citizen architects and to encourage a healthy, safe, and secure learning environment in which to grow. An environment in which students have the opportunity to succeed and, in some cases, to fail. We may allow students to drive into the ditch, but we don’t let them go off the cliff. Make no mistake, failure is a powerful teacher. The projects belong to the students and are in their hands; we are here as a teammate to provide feedback and to help students take ownership of their projects. We like to think we take the work seriously but don’t take ourselves too seriously!
Faculty
Andrew Freear
Wiatt Professor | Director of Rural Studio
As Director of Rural Studio, Andrew Freear lives full-time in Newbern, west Alabama, where he administers the program and supervises 5th year undergraduate design and build projects. His professional interests include rural community development and design, building technology, and housing. He has been involved in the writing of three books about the Rural Studio and was the co-author of the third, entitled Rural Studio at Twenty: Designing and Building in Hale County Alabama. He loves pouring concrete and installing metal roofs.
Education
BA (Hons), Architecture, University of Westminster
AA Diploma, Architectural Association, London
Rusty Smith
Associate Director
Rusty Smith has been on the faculty at Auburn University since 1998. He became the Associate Director of Rural Studio in 2007. He spearheads the Front Porch Initiative (formerly the 20K Initiative), managing a multi-faceted effort to mitigate the rural housing crisis through both affordable, quality home construction and national coalition-building for home procurement. His professional interests include project-based teaching and learning as well as housing affordability.
Education
MFA, Studio, School of The Art Institute of Chicago
BS in Interior Design, Auburn University
Betsy Farrell Garcia
Assistant Research Professor
Betsy Farrell Garcia, Assistant Research Professor, joined the Front Porch Initiative team in 2020. Garcia is a 2008 graduate of Rural Studio’s 5th-year program and a member of the student team that designed and built the 20K Bridge Home. A registered architect in Massachusetts, her experience ranges from master planning and design to construction administration and delivery of award-winning projects. She brings expertise with envisioning and designing efficient, resilient, and equitable housing for communities that need it most. Betsy’s strong belief in Rural Studio’s community-driven mission motivates her in furthering its valuable work.
EDUCATION
BArch, Auburn University
Dick Hudgens
Instructor
Dick Hudgens has been working at Auburn University Rural Studio since 1993 and currently teaches a seminar in history and theory. He is the President of Richard B. Hudgens Architects, Inc., in Selma, Alabama and celebrated his 40th year in business in 2019. His professional interests include historic preservation, historic landscapes, and historic interiors. In his spare time, Hudgens collects American decorative arts from the first half of the nineteenth century.
Education
BArch, Auburn University
BS Building Construction, Auburn University
Emily McGlohn
Associate Professor | 3rd Year Teaching Coordinator
Emily McGlohn has been a professor at Rural Studio since 2017 and was the Clerk of Works in 2003. She teaches a variety of 3rd-year classes and coordinates 3rd-year teaching. Her varied professional interests including design/build education, building performance, residential design and construction, and affordable housing. Since 2016, McGlohn has partnered with the AIA’s Building Performance Knowledge Community to develop a glossary designed to help architects better understand ambiguous building performance terms, which will be widely available through AIA in 2019. In her spare time, she likes to build desserts out of Jell-O and serve them to unsuspecting friends.
Education
MArch, University of Oregon
BArch, Auburn University
Joe Farruggia
Engineering Consultant | Visiting Assistant Professor
Joe Farruggia is an architect and engineer who practices in Chicago. He has been a consultant for Rural Studio since 2003, and he is a father figure at Rural Studio.
Education
MS, Architecture, University of Illinois
BArch, University of Illinois
John Allen
Operations Manager
John Allen joined Rural Studio as the Operations Manager in 2021. He manages much of the day-to-day plant and business operations for the Studio, including building upkeep, budgeting, fundraising, and planning. Allen brings to Rural Studio operations management experience across a wide range of industries including construction, oil and gas, logistics and law. He is no stranger to rural living. He grew up in northeast Mississippi and is glad to return to country life. In his time away from work, Allen enjoys developing his culinary skills, being an amateur sculptor, and the occasional round of golf.
EDUCATION
Juris Doctor, Cumberland School of Law
BA, Economics, The University of Alabama
John Marusich
Lecturer and Design-Build Manager
John joined Rural Studio as a Lecturer and Design-Build Manager in 2022. He is a licensed Architect in Illinois and brings nearly a decade of professional experience to the program, having worked on a range of project types, including affordable housing, brewpubs, restaurants, and production breweries. John’s multidisciplinary career is informed by his background as a maker and a builder. His construction experience and passion for details facilitates a collaborative approach to design with constructability in mind. John loves to cook and build things. You can often find him renovating his house or enjoying life at the beach.
EDUCATION
BArch, Auburn University
Mackenzie Stagg
Assistant Research Professor
Mackenzie Stagg has been a project manager for the Front Porch Initiative since 2018, focusing on development of our building products and the drawings needed to communicate our design intent. She previously worked on affordable, multi-family housing with Community Housing Partners in Christiansburg, VA, and at Waggonner & Ball in New Orleans, LA, focusing on urban design projects aimed at increasing resilience in coastal cities. Her research interests include housing affordability and building technology. She digs isometric constructed drawings.
Education
BArch, Auburn University
Stephen Long
Instructor | Newbern
Stephen Long has been teaching at Rural Studio since 2009. He works alongside Andrew Freear instructing 5th-year students and helps advise building strategies for all projects at Rural Studio. His interests include woodworking and best practices in building construction.
Education
MS Arch PID
BArch, Auburn University
Staff
Brenda Wilkerson
Account Administrator
Brenda Wilkerson has managed payroll and procurement accounts for Rural Studio since 2001 and enjoys helping students complete the purchasing process when they need materials for projects. Samuel “Sambo” Mockbee was still the Director when she started, and she enjoyed sitting on the porch with him and watching the Newbern Sunshine school parade.
Education
Secretarial Science, The University of Montevallo
Catherine Tabb
Kitchen Chef
Catherine Tabb has been the Kitchen Chef since 2012, providing delicious, nutritious meals for the Rural Studio community. She holds a ServSafe Certification and is particularly interested in food safety issues. When she’s not in the kitchen, she enjoys reading.
Doris Ward
Facilities
Doris Ward, originally from Greensboro, has worked for Rural Studio since 2017. She helps keep Morrisette looking beautiful and clean, which is quite a task with so many people working and living there. She enjoys reading and playing with her grandchildren in her spare time.
Dudley Long
Administrative Assistant
Eric Ball
Farm Manager
Eric Ball has worked for Rural Studio since 2012 and is the manager of the Rural Studio Farm. Ball also teaches a permaculture seminar and offers mini-lectures on food and food systems while providing hands-on education for students who work on the farm.
Education
BS, Biology, University of Oregon
BS, Philosophy, University of Oregon
Permaculture Design Certificate, Oregon State University
Judith Seaman
3rd-Year Instructor
Judith Seaman began work as an Instructor and Coordinator at Rural Studio in 2022 after completing her 5th-year project, the Myers’ Home. Her professional interests include multi-generational housing, alternative residential structural systems, and construction methods research. Judith is a zealous baker and enjoys studying regional agricultural and culinary histories. BArch, Auburn University
Education
BArch, Auburn University
Mason Hinton
Maintenance
Mason Hinton has worked as Rural Studio's maintenance technician since 2017. He likes working with students and teaching electrical and building practices. When he’s not fixing the Studio’s facilities or working with students on their job sites, he keeps a cattle farm and enjoys traveling.
Education
Associate Degree in Heating & Air Conditioning, Shelton State Community College
Associate Degree in Electrical, Shelton State Community College
Melissa Foster Denney
CADC Director of Development
Melissa Foster Denney is the Director of Development for the College of Architecture, Design and Construction (CADC). In addition to leading alumni relations and fundraising efforts for the CADC, she promotes and manages gifts, donations, and awards to Rural Studio. An avid fabric collector and quilt maker, Denney owns seven sewing machines, including a 1947 Singer Featherweight 221(Sadie) and a 2019 Bernina 20Q (Bernice).
Education
MPA, Auburn University
BA, Public Relations/Journalism, University of Maryland, University College
Associate in Paralegal Studies, Samford University
Natalie Butts-Ball
Communications Manager
Auburn University Rural Studio alumna Natalie Butts-Ball began working on staff with the Studio in 2006. She spent two years as an Instructor in the 2nd-Year Studio followed by three years teaching design in public schools in New Orleans, LA. In 2012, Butts-Ball returned to Rural Studio to manage events and communications and to assist fundraising for the Studio’s 20th Anniversary. She currently manages all public relations, press, communications, marketing, online & print media, digital archives, and campus and project tours for the Studio.
Education
Graduate Certificate, Technical Communication, Auburn University
BArch, Auburn University
Founders
Samuel Mockbee
Founder
Samuel Mockbee dedicated his life, as a teacher, an architect and an artist, to the goal of providing "shelter for the soul." His inspirational and authentic architecture served to improve the lives of the most impoverished residents of rural Alabama through his work with Auburn University Rural Studio. In September of 1998, Mockbee was diagnosed with leukemia. The illness slowed him down, but he remained committed to the aspirations and ideals of the Studio. In December 2001, he died of complications from the disease. He is survived by his wife Jackie and four children: Margaret, Sarah Ann, Carol and Julius. Despite his renown, Mockbee remained modest and resolutely “down-home” until his death. He was a charmer with a quick wit and thick Southern drawl. He cast a spotlight on an aspect of our culture that most avoid while demonstrating that socially responsible architecture can delight the senses, inspire the masses and serve the soul. For his work at Rural Studio, Mockbee received the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” in 2000 and was posthumously awarded the AIA Gold Medal in 2004.
D.K. Ruth
Founder
Dennis "D.K." Ruth dedicated his life as an educator to promoting context-based, socially conscious design. As department head at Auburn's School of Architecture at the time of Rural Studio's inception, D.K. was instrumental in getting the fledging off-campus program up and running. After his friend and colleague Samuel Mockbee's death in 2001, D.K. helped guide Rural Studio through an emotional and uncertain time.
In Auburn, D.K. took his interest in collaboration and hands-on learning further by pioneering a Design-Build master’s program (now known as a Masters in Integrated Design & Construction.) D.K. remained a devoted teacher up until his passing in 2009. For his academic work both with Rural Studio and Auburn's Integrated Design & Construction master’s program, D.K. received numerous teaching awards. Among his honors, he was presented with the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award for service to humanity. D.K. is remembered fondly by his numerous students for his generous and genuine nature. He is survived by his wife Linda and four children: Alex, Philip, Shelley, Jeff.
