The College of Art & Design presented the 2022 Honor Award to Tom Sofranko, associate dean of academic services, at the commencement ceremony May 20, 2022. Sofranko has taught architecture at LSU for 30 years.

As the college’s commencement speaker for the Class of 2022 he said to students, “We’re artists and designers. We recreate the world.”

Sofranko is a professor of the LSU School of Architecture and the associate dean of academics of the LSU College of Art + Design. He served as the interim director of the School of Architecture for four years and has been at LSU since 1992. Sofranko received his Master of Architecture and Bachelor of Architecture from Kent State University. Prior to his arrival at LSU he was working professionally in Cleveland, Ohio. His interest in the curriculum and the structure of the school as well as the geography of the region led him to LSU. He is a full member of the graduate faculty and primarily teaches design studios in both the undergraduate and graduate programs. His research has been a combination of architectural design projects and scholarly papers with a focus on beginning design as well as popular cultural and architecture as image. He has been involved with the National Conference on the Beginning Design Student for over 20 years. Most recently his research has focused on the efficacy of techniques for recruiting and retention of students in design. He is credited with starting the school’s Architecture & Design Summer Camp for high school students and is interested in using the camp as a tool for recruiting minority students.

In 2022 he will step down from his role as associate dean to fully devote himself as a faculty member in the School of Architecture.