"Not So Big" Advocate Sarah Susanka To Speak at 2007 Nicholas School Recognition Ceremony

March 15, 2007

CONTACT: Tim Lucas, (919) 613-8084 or tdlucas@duke.edu.

DURHAM, N.C. – Bestselling author, architect and sustainability advocate Sarah Susanka, FAIA, will speak to 2007 graduates of Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at the school’s annual Recognition Ceremony, at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 12.
Susanka’s address to this year’s Master of Environmental Management, Master of Forestry and doctoral degree candidates and their families will begin at about 9:15 a.m. and will last about 20 minutes.

The ceremony, which is not open to the public, will be held in the courtyard of the Levine Science Research Center on Research Drive.

Susanka’s groundbreaking 1998 book, The Not So Big House, launched a nationwide movement away from the “bigger is better” philosophy in American residential architecture.  The book advocated a “less is more” approach that placed a greater emphasis on quality over quantity, with a special focus on home designs that promoted environmental sustainability and greater interaction with neighbors.

She has written five bestselling follow-ups, including the new The Not So Big Life, in which she extends her philosophy to the way we live our lives as well as the structures in which we live them. A major theme of all of Susanka’s books and talks is the value inherent in “new urbanism,” a school of thought in which smaller homes are clustered together with local businesses, parks and schools to form old-fashioned neighborhoods rather than sprawling suburbs.

Susanka was ranked among the 50 most influential people in the building industry by Builder Magazine in 2004. That same year, she was named to the "Environmental Power List" by Organic Style magazine. In 2001, Fast Company named her to their debut list of "Fast 50" innovators whose achievements have helped to change society - an honor preceded by her selection as a "top newsmaker" for 2000 by Newsweek magazine and an "innovator in American culture" in 1998 by U.S. News & World Report.
Susanka is a registered architect, a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects and is a certified interior designer.
The Nicholas School is one of the world’s top graduate research and professional schools for the interdisciplinary study of the environment, biological, physical and social sciences.

Masters and doctoral degree candidates will officially receive their degrees at Duke University’s graduation ceremonies on May 13.