Esther Y. Kang, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Design Studies @ UW-Madison’s School of Human Ecology
Affiliations: Civil Society and Community Studies Department @ SoHE
& Robert F. and Jean E. Holtz Center for Science & Technology Studies
Member: RISE AI, Data Center Working Group, and Global Human Ecology
Research Focus: Politics of Public Memory, Participation & Imagination
in Placemaking and Land-use Projects
Current Project: Social Implications of Hyperscale Data Center Proposals
for Rural and Postindustrial Sites in Wisconsin
[community-based action research]
Education: Ph.D. in Design from Carnegie Mellon University,
MA in Social Design from Maryland Institute College of Art,
BFA in Photography and Art Theory from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

a nationally recognized and awarded design researcher and strategist
who previously led participatory initiatives and community engagement projects
at national, regional, and local levels in the US for 10+ years, including the Cities RISE
project for the state of NY, Repurpose for America with Bloomberg Philanthropies’
What Works Cities, and a one-year term with a White House Initiative under
the Obama administration as the inaugural Designer-in-Residence