Dean's Council Welcomes Three New Members

The School of Architecture and Planning is pleased to welcome three new members to its Dean’s Council, a leadership group of friends and professional partners that supports the school’s efforts to build its global reputation, improve the quality of life in Buffalo and communities worldwide, and advance diversity, equity and inclusion across our student body and our professions.

Real estate developer George Gellman is one of three founding principles of The Benchmark Group, a Buffalo-based company with a portfolio including 6,600 apartments units in 12 states and 5 million square feet of retail space in six states. Gellman has extensive real estate experience as an owner, investor, developer and operator of real estate projects throughout the country.

Bradley Lukanic, AIA LEED AP, is chief executive o cer and lead strategist of CannonDesign, a global design rm with 16 o ces and more than 1,000 employees worldwide. An award- winning designer, Lukanic has been with CannonDesign since 2009 and was executive director of its education practice prior to his appointment as CEO. Based in New York, Lukanic recently re ected on his decision to join the school’s Dean’s Council:

Lena Zhang is a principal at Z Studio Architects in San Francisco. After earning her MArch from UB in 1989, Lena worked on an international competition-winning project for the Tokyo International Forum with Rafael Viñoly Architects in New York. Prior to starting Z Studio Architects, she had been with San Francisco-based Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz, where she led many large-scale institutional and commercial projects domestically and in China.