Mo Zell starts her role as Dean of the School of Architecture and Professor of Architecture at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa in April 2025.
Mo Zell brings more than 22 years of academic experience across four institutions, with the last 12 years spent in multiple leadership roles at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning. She has been recognized for her work in fostering community partnerships and driving innovative educational programs.
Throughout her career, Zell has championed programs that connect architecture education with real-world applications. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she launched initiatives such as the High School Design Build Summer Camp, which introduces students from underrepresented backgrounds to architecture, and the Design + Construction Initiative, which partners with organizations like Habitat for Humanity to enhance affordable housing solutions. While serving as associate dean, she launched the award-winning externship program which connected students to week-long professional job-shadowing opportunities across the country. Zell recently served as president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) from 2023 to 2024, where she emphasized creating inclusive pathways in architecture and expanding the impact of faculty research.
Zell’s current research was funded as part of a $3.4M Department of Energy Net-Zero Energy Homes grant, awarded to the City of Milwaukee. The grant provides incentives for a manufacturer to move to Milwaukee to fabricate wall systems for net zero housing, funding for the school to test a series of pre-manufactured wall systems, including energy performance, carbon impact, and cost, and gap financing for the construction of 25 net zero housing units. With this funding opportunity, Zell has strengthened the partnerships with industry and the profession and expanded research for students.
Zell earned her master’s in architecture from Yale University and her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Virginia.
Research & Creative Work
Professional Experience
Bauenstudio, co-founder, 2006 – current
License(s)
Registered Architect, Massachusetts
Selected Publications/Grants/Presentations
- Zell, M. and A. Timmer, Chapter ‘Mobile Design Box Retrofit: Addressing Urban Vacancy Through University-Generated Entrepreneurial Infrastructures’ in volume Colleges and Their Communities: Exploring the Civic Impact of Institutions of Higher Education, Rutgers University Press, forthcoming 2026.
- Shambarger, E., City of Milwaukee ECO Office, US Department of Energy, Zero-Energy Ready Homes grant, $3,400,000. Zell, M. and A. Timmer, Subawardee, $400,000, on City of Milwaukee grant advancing new Zero-Energy Ready Homes (ZERN) focused on off-site construction to accelerate the speed of building new affordable homes, 3-year award in 2025.
- Zell, M. and Mark Pearson, College of DuPage. NCARB, Region 4 Member Board/Educators Symposium, Presentation on ACSA Strategic Community College Initiatives including Community College Transfer Toolkit, Oct 26, 2024
- Deans’ Panel at the 2024 ACSA International Conference: “Inflections: becoming what is yet to be” held in partnership with ACSA, Asociación de Instituciones de Enseñanza de la Arquitectura (ASINEA), and the School of Architecture, Art and Design of Tecnológico de Monterrey (TEC), Querétaro, Mexico, June 27, 2024. Speakers: Juan Ignacio del Cueto Ruiz-Funes (Dino de Cueto), UNAM, Mo Zell, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Luis Rico-Gutierrez, Iowa State, Roberto Iñiguez Florez, Tec Monterrey, Emma Geoghegan, Head of Architecture, Technological University Dublin
- Timmer, A. and M. Zell, ‘UWM Design + Construction Initiative: Addressing Urban Vacancy Through Modular Furniture,’ Poster, Deans IV Meeting in Puebla, Mexico, March 2024
- Zell, M. ‘Advocacy, Leadership and Community Engagement’ in Make Space in the Salon at the John W. Olver Design Building Gallery at UMass Amherst, spring 2024.
- Zell, M., C. Beimborn, K. Rehbein, and E. Radomski. Co-organizers. $35,000 NAF Future Ready Scholars Program/High School Design Build Summer Camp, NAF 2023.
- Zell, M. The Architectural Drawing Course. Major revisions. Published February 2018