Rate My Professor Hui Cai

Hui Cai is Professor of Architecture and Chair of the Department of Architecture in the School of Architecture & Design at the University of Kansas, where she also directs research for the Institute of Health and Wellness Design. She joined the KU faculty in 2014, advancing from assistant professor to her current roles, including chair since 2021. Previously, she taught at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and served as Health + Science research leader and designer at CallisonRTKL Associates in Dallas. Dr. Cai holds a Ph.D. in evidence-based design from the Georgia Institute of Technology, complemented by years of architectural education and practice in China and Singapore. Her career emphasizes integrating cross-cultural perspectives into architectural pedagogy and research, mentoring students from introductory to doctoral levels and fostering collaborations with industry partners.

Dr. Cai's research employs performance-driven, evidence-based design to investigate relationships among culture, human behavior, and physical environments, with a focus on healthcare settings. She conducts post-occupancy evaluations of facilities using tools like space syntax analysis, discrete event simulation, and behavioral mapping to measure impacts on performance. Her pioneering dissertation compared U.S. and Chinese nursing unit typologies quantitatively. Notable publications include 'The Continuous Learning Cycle: A Multi-phase Post-occupancy Evaluation (POE) of Decentralized Nursing Unit Design' (HERD, 2021), 'Impact of Inpatient Unit Design Features on Overall Patient Experience and Perceived Room-Level Call Button Response' (HERD, 2021), 'Visibility and Accessibility of Hand Hygiene Stations and Fatigue Among Nurses Working in Long-Term Care (LTC) During the COVID-19 Pandemic' (2023), 'Cultural impacts on nursing unit design: A comparative study on Chinese nursing unit typologies and their US counterparts using space syntax' (Environment and Planning B, 2019), and 'A systematic literature review of empirical studies on decentralized nursing stations' (HERD, 2019). Her contributions have earned the International Academy Award for Best Research Project (2011), AIA-AAH/AAH Foundation Burgun Fellowship, 2021 HCD 10 Healthcare Design Educator of the Year, and 2022 Inaugural Wilbur H. (Tib) Tusler, Jr. Health Design Research Prize. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Environmental Design Research Association.