Project Director, R.E.R.C. [ R1 Project ] Effectiveness of Universal Design in Practice
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Dr. Gary Scott Danford is an applied behavioral scientist with advanced degrees in Psychology and expertise in environmental design as enabling technology for special populations.
Since joining the faculty of the State University of New York's School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo (SUNY/Buffalo), Dr. Danford has been involved in funded research projects ranging from the organizational design of ambulatory health care delivery systems (for which he received a First Award for Applied Research from Progressive Architecture) to the architectural design of the international space station (for which he received faculty fellowships from NASA and the American Society for Engineering Education).
His current research, funded by N.I.D.R.R. under the auspices of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Universal Design and the Built Environment at Buffalo, involves (1) identifying end users' priorities for improving public buildings, public streetscapes and residential environments; (2) evaluating universally designed environments' effectiveness in addressing those priorities; and (3) providing evidence to support the development of universal design guidelines.
A member of the American Psychological Association and the Environmental Design Research Association, Dr. Danford is also an editorial reviewer for both the Journal of Architecture and Planning Research (Locke Science Publications) and Environment and Behavior (Sage Publications).
Dr. Danford is currently Associate Professor of Environmental and Organizational Psychology in the Department of Architecture and a senior faculty associate of the Center for Inclusive Design & Environmental Access (IDEA Center).
