Interior Design Faculty | Purdue West Lafayette's Interior Design Program
Laura Bittner
Assistant Professor of Practice
Laura Bittner has been on the faculty of Interior Design at Purdue University since 1995. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Interior Design and Coordinator of the Interior Design Internship Program. She earned her BA in Interior Design from Purdue University in 1986 and her MA in Interior Design from Purdue University in 2003.
She is the owner of Laura Bittner Design where she consults on interior design projects, including residential and small commercial projects such as Evan Todd Salon and Spa in West Lafayette, IN. Her specialty is interior space planning.
Prior to 1995, she worked for Office Works, Inc (Herman Miller Dealer) in Indianapolis, IN and the Plumbery, a Kitchen and Bath Showroom, in Sacramento, CA. Ms. Bittner has taught undergraduate Interior Design Studio courses, History of Interior Design and Interior Design Materials and Components, at the sophomore, junior, and senior level. [Read More]
Barb Young
Assistant Professor of Interior Design
Barb Young, RID, LEED AP, is an NCIDQ certified Interior Designer, registered in the State of Indiana, and LEED Accredited Professional with practice experience in commercial and education environments. Barb brings extensive teaching experience in Interior Design to Purdue from the University of Kentucky and Indiana University where she served as a Senior Lecturer.
Barb is an educator dedicated to instilling the positive impact that interior design contributes to people and places through evidence-based, socially responsible, process. She is dedicated to the advancement of the profession through her continued service as a site visitor for the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) and active memberships in the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) and International Interior Design Association (IIDA). Barb’s research interests include exploring participatory design process for community environments through inter-disciplinary practice and community engagement. [Read More]
Jennifer Kaufmann-Buhler
Associate Professor of Design History
Jennifer Kaufmann-Buhler is an Associate Professor of Design History in the department of Art and Design. Her research focuses broadly on ordinary spaces and objects in the context of everyday life, and her current project is about the progressive origins and emerging problems of the American open plan office (“office cubicles”) in the late 20th century. Kaufmann-Buhler has presented her research at various national conferences and is currently in the process of developing several articles as well as a book on her open plan office research. She earned her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Design Studies, her MA in the History of Design from the Royal College of Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum, and her BA in American Culture from Vassar College. [ Read More]
Genell Wells Ebbini
Assistant Professor of Interior Design
Genell Ebbini joined the Interior Design faculty at Purdue University in 2022. She earned a Master of Design Studies Sustainable Design from Boston Architectural College and graduated Summa Cum Laude, earning a Bachelor of Interior Design from the University of Arkansas.
Genell has an extensive background in interior design, indoor environmental quality, sustainability, energy-efficient design, and construction as a practitioner, researcher, and educator. She is an NCIDQ-certified and Registered Interior Designer in Indiana, with over twenty years of global practice and ten years of extensive teaching experience in CIDA Accredited programs at the University of Minnesota, Washington State University, and Indiana State University. She is also a LEED BD+C and ID+C Accredited Professional with experience managing and delivering the highest LEED certification on a building, Platinum. [ Read More]
Yong In
Assistant Professor of Interior Design
Yong In joins the interior design faculty at Purdue University as a Clinical assistant professor of practice with over 25 years of experience in the design and architecture industry. She earned her Master of Science degree from Northwestern University and holds dual Bachelor's degrees in Interior Architecture and Science. She is a whole-brain designer with a unique background in both creative explorations (design/art/architecture) and analytical processes (science/engineering/strategy). With this diverse blend of expertise, she works and teaches at the intersection of design, research, and strategy, bridging design theory with practical professional practice.
Yong has multifaceted experience and knowledge spanning interior design, architecture, design strategy, branding, product design, and experience design, cultivated through roles at renowned architecture and design firms such as Gensler, HOK, SOM (Skidmore Owings and Merrill), and Stantec/VOA, among others. Her design and strategy work includes projects in workplace, hospitality, commercial, corporate campus, headquarters, healthcare, education, building repositioning, senior living, residential, mixed-use, retail, non-profit, as well as institutional market sectors. [Read More]