James H. Banning

Professor of Education
Instructor, EDHE 674 – Campus Ecology

I was born and raised in Kansas and went off to college at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri in 1956. Next it was on to the University of Colorado-Boulder where I finished my Ph.D. in clinical psychology in 1965. For the next 5 years I served as a psychotherapist with the Counseling Center at UCB and later in 1968 became the director. In 1970 I joined the staff at the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education to direct a program focusing on campus mental health. It was out of this project that the study of campus ecology emerged.

My student affairs administrative career started in 1973 as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the University of Missouri–Columbia and continued as Vice President for Student Affairs at Colorado State from 1978 to 1987. Since 1987 I have been a professor teaching environmental psychology for the Department of Psychology and qualitative research and campus ecology for the School of Education.

I professionally identify as an environmental psychologist who studies institutional learning environments from the perspective of campus ecology focusing on the role of physical environment. I have co-authored the books Educating by Design: Creating Campus Environments that Work and Positioning Student Affairs for Sustainable Change.

On a more personal note, my partner Sue and I have been married for 52 years and our oldest grandson starts his experience in college this fall (2011). Most folks my age have retired long ago, but I still enjoy teaching, learning, and students – so still around after starting my college teaching career 46 years ago.