Esther Obonyo

Associate Professor of Engineering Design and Architectural Engineering, Architecture and Landscape and African Studies

Executive Director of the Global Building Network

Area(s) of Specialization: Sustainable buildings, Low Income Housing, Entrepreneurship, Climate-change resilience, Globalizing STEM.

Professional Bio

Esther Obonyo is the Executive Director of the Global Building Network and an associate professor of engineering design and architectural engineering. Under her tenure as Executive Director since 2019, the GBN has established more than 35 industry, non-profit, and higher education partnerships across North America, Europe, Africa, and Australia to collaboratively catalyze research and education to make buildings more sustainable, more efficient, and healthier for people. Dr. Obonyo is also the lead for an international, Penn State-led consortium funded by the Belmont Forum to improve infrastructure resiliency, sustainability, and public health in disaster-prone, low-income communities. In addition to her academic career, Dr. Obonyo brings more than two decades of globally-focused work experience on buildings, including working as a Jefferson Science Fellow and senior policy adviser for USAID, innovation analyst with Balfour Beatty, and construction engineer for an emergency retrofit project for the U.S. consulate in Nairobi, Kenya.