A Professor and a Commissioner… And even more?

By Andrew Atwal

Oct. 25, 2010

Not only does she run half-marathons, but she also manages to teach two courses at Michigan State while being a member of the Meridian Township planning commission as well.

Adrienne Domas was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas where she was the oldest of her siblings. She went on to receive her Bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Texas Austin, graduating in 2000. Domas continued her study of geography at the University of California Santa Barbara where she received her Master’s degree in 2002.

Currently a professor in the department of geography at Michigan State, she teaches Geography 221, a course which introduces geographic information. Domas also teaches Integrative Studies in Social Sciences (ISS for short) 310 which involves contemporary issues related to the interaction of social and ecological systems (msu.edu).

She also helped to developed Geography 221V, which is the online version of geography 221. The course was awarded honorable mention for the 2010 MSU-AT&T Instructional Technology Awards.

Domas loves being a professor because she really enjoys interacting with students and being around young people, though she is only 32 years old herself. She also likes introducing students to new topics and seeing their interest sparked as a result.

If she was not a professor right now, Domas said she would be doing some sort of urban planning right now, identical to the work she did Santa Barbara and in Austin. She enjoyed being a planner in Austin, in particular, because she “could take the city that she loves and make it better.” Her projects in Austin were more long-term (10-20 years), while her projects in Santa Barbara were for the more immediate future.

Domas described one of her experiences as a planner in Santa Barbara where she had to deal with celebrity Rob Lowe. You may know Lowe from his roles in shows including Parks and Recreation and The West Wing. Domas sat through mediation meetings essentially across the table from Lowe stemming from neighbors taking issue with Lowe wanting an addition onto his beach house. Neighbors argued that the addition would “block their view of the sunset.”

In addition to being a professor at Michigan State, Domas serves on the Meridian Township planning commission. She enjoys being on the planning commission to get a first look at developments as it makes her feel “ahead of the game” in that regard. Domas also enjoys serving on the planning commission because she seeks to make Meridian Township a better place by making the best decisions for the community.

In her spare time, Domas enjoys running; she has ran eight half-marathons and one marathon. She also enjoys cooking and playing guitar. It also seems that Domas enjoys sports as her office in the geography building had posters of the Michigan State football and basketball teams. She also described herself as a hard-worker as she has won an award of some sort at every job she has ever held.

Although Domas is a professor at Michigan State, something that is a lot of work as is, she also serves Meridian Township on the planning commission to help better the community around her.

As if that was not enough, Domas has run several half-marathons.

This begs the question: Does she have any time for relaxing?