Cheryl is a licensed architect and Emerita Professor of Architecture in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture of Auburn University. In thirty years of teaching she worked with architectural programs at Georgia Institute of Technology, Oklahoma State and California College of Arts and Crafts. For the last 12 years of her teaching career she was the Director of Auburn’s Urban Studio in Birmingham, Alabama. Under Cheryl’s leadership, the Urban Studio’s Small Town Design Initiative Program worked with over 75 small towns and neighborhoods in Alabama.

Morgan practiced architecture and urban design in the San Francisco Bay Area. She worked with a number of firms including Environmental Planning and Research, Gensler, and the Gruzen Partnership. Before coming to Auburn in 1992 she was an associate with the Berkeley firm of ELS/Elbasani and Logan. Morgan’s professional practice now focuses on urban design, community revitalization and graphic design. She is also an experienced facilitator.

Cheryl holds two degrees from Auburn University: a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Arts (Sociology). Her Master of Architecture degree is from the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana. She is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards and is a member and Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

In 2007, she was named a “Woman of Distinction” by the Cahaba Council of the Girls Scouts and in 2010 received the Thomas Jefferson Award from the Jefferson County Historical Commission as well as being named to a Woman of Distinction Leadership Award by Auburn’s Women’s Resource Center.

In 2011 she was presented with the Alabama Chapter of the American Planning Association’s Distinguished Leadership Award recognizing her as a “Friend of Planning. “ In 2012 she received one of Auburn University’s highest awards for Achievement in Outreach. She was co-chair with Bill Jones for the Rotary Club of Birmingham’s Rotary Trail, which opened in May of 2016.

Tom Spencer is a Senior Research Associate for the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama.  He has spent nearly two decades in journalism, most recently with The Birmingham News. He has a diversified background, researching and writing on a wide variety of topics including the environment, education, economics, governmental and community affairs, politics and civil rights. His work has earned top national, regional and state awards. A Birmingham native, Spencer is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

An attorney with the Birmingham law firm of Hand Arendall, LLC, Mark has focused much of his practice on environmental protection and employment issues. He chaired the Alabama State Bar Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section from 2007-08, and was a member of the Birmingham Bar Association’s Grievance Committee from 2001-04. Mark’s civic involvements have included serving on the Environmental Committee of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, and on the board of the Alabama Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.