Dr. Hu was appointed Dean of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M, effective July 1, 2025. Prior to joing the university, she was a Professor in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida (UF) College of Design, Construction and Planning and most recently served as the Chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning as well as the Associate Director of the School of Landscape Architecture and Planning since July 2022.
Dr. Hu’s work has focused on the interrelationship between transportation and land use. She has extensive knowledge of real-world planning and policy efforts to promote prosperous cities, reduce environmental impact and enhance public health. She has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious urban planning and transportation journals, and has been the principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on research projects totaling $5.2 million in funding supported by the National Science Foundation and other agencies. She currently serves as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Planning Education and Research and Associate Editor of Transportation Research Part D.
Before joining UF, Dr. Hu was Professor and Chair of the Urban Planning Department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She received her Ph.D. in Policy, Planning and Development, and her master’s in Planning from the University of Southern California and her bachelor’s degree in Planning from Nanjing University. She worked as a planner at the Southern California Association of Governments and the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design.