Inspiring the Next Generation

Jennie Lynn Rudder is a senior landscape architect/urban designer, project executive, and Georgia state leader for Land Planning at Gresham Smith. In this role, she leads a multidisciplinary team that integrates landscape architecture, urban design, civil engineering, and surveying to thoughtfully shape the built environment. Since joining the firm, she has played a key role in advancing collaborative projects that prioritize sustainability, resilience, and meaningful community impact. However, her journey into landscape architecture didn’t follow a typical trajectory—it was shaped by curiosity, adaptability, and a desire to bridge analytical problem-solving with creative placemaking.

“I hadn’t heard of landscape architecture when I started college,” Jennie Lynn recalls. Originally a physics major at the University of Georgia (UGA), it wasn’t until she methodically eliminated every major she wasn’t interested in that she discovered landscape architecture. “Once I learned more about it, everything just clicked—it was the perfect balance of creativity, logic, math, design, nature, and the built environment.”

The Honors program and several scholarships kept her at UGA, and as she delved into the landscape architecture program, she realized that designing outdoor spaces wasn’t just about aesthetics—it was about shaping the built world in ways that create lasting, positive change. Later in her career, as she worked on projects spanning diverse scales and contexts, Jennie Lynn became increasingly drawn to larger urban questions.

“I found myself thinking not just about individual sites but about how cities grow, how landscapes can adapt over time, and how design can contribute to long-term resilience,” she says. This realization led her back to school, where she earned a master’s in urban design from Georgia Tech while continuing to work as a landscape architect. Her dual expertise in landscape architecture and urban design has shaped her career ever since—both in her work for Gresham Smith and her commitment to mentoring the next generation of designers.

“I found myself thinking not just about individual sites but about how cities grow, how landscapes can adapt over time, and how design can contribute to long-term resilience.”

Championing Multidisciplinary Collaboration and Regionalism

Jennie Lynn has been deeply involved in organizations that span industries and disciplines, including the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Atlanta, Park Pride, and the Council for Quality Growth. Her participation in the ULI Atlanta Center for Leadership (CFL) program in 2019 was an inflection point in her career, introducing her to a network of professionals across industries who are shaping cities, regions, and even national and global initiatives.

Since completing the program, Jennie Lynn has stayed active with ULI Atlanta, serving as an advisor for a ULI CFL mTAP team (2024 class) and co-chairing the “Regionalism and Infrastructure” program for the ULI Atlanta CFL class of 2025.

Connecting with the Next Generation

Jennie Lynn has remained closely tied to her alma mater, mentoring students and engaging with professional organizations such as the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF). She recently helped submit Town Branch Commons for the LAF Case Study Investigation (CSI) program, collaborating with Land Planning’s Erin Masterson and partners from the University of Kentucky to document landscape performance metrics that will ultimately contribute to the field of landscape architecture.

Beyond internal mentorship, she plays a direct role in preparing UGA’s landscape architecture students for professional practice through the Gresham Smith-sponsored Capstone Studio. This senior-level studio gives students in UGA’s College of Environment and Design the opportunity to apply their design skills to a significant, real-world community project. This year, the focus is on Brunswick, Georgia. The project encourages students to explore new ways to rethink urban landscapes, making them more accessible, resilient, and meaningful for both the local community and the region.

“The most rewarding part of the UGA studio has been watching the students grow over the past couple of years,” says Jennie Lynn. “I’ve seen them take ‘big-picture’ questions and gradually break them down into solutions that can be implemented. Seeing their progression from simply identifying issues to actively developing solutions has been an incredible journey.”

Jennie Lynn sees professional engagement in academia as essential: “Because the professional practice evolves so quickly—and there’s often a tendency of academia and practice to drift apart—we have to stay in conversation between the two,” she says. “That connection creates more opportunities to keep advancing our work on the professional side. It’s easy to become project-focused as a practitioner, but over the arc of a career, staying engaged with academia pushes us to keep questioning our boundaries. Academic perspectives have also encouraged us to be more intentional about documenting and quantifying the value landscape architecture brings to the world.”

Beyond the Classroom: Jennie Lynn’s Work at Gresham Smith

While she’s committed to mentorship and industry-wide engagement, Jennie Lynn’s primary focus is her work at Gresham Smith, where she leads multidisciplinary projects that address complex urban challenges. From park system design to large-scale infrastructure-integrated landscapes, her projects balance environmental responsibility with urban vitality.

One particularly meaningful project has been Kelley’s Landing Master Plan—a riverfront revitalization in Lexington, Kentucky, where Jennie Lynn and her team are helping create a connected and resilient public space.

She also collaborates with organizations like Park Pride, contributing to community-led design projects such as Empire Park in Atlanta. Another aspect of her work that energizes her is the deep collaboration with Gresham Smith’s Transportation teams in Atlanta. “Our Atlanta office is such a home of energy, collaboration, and inspiration,” she says. “Jeremy Busby leads the office in a way that creates endless opportunities for growth, and we all lift each other up, focus on making connections, and continually find ways to push the industry forward.”

Finding Purpose and Growth at Gresham Smith

Jennie Lynn’s decision to join Gresham Smith was driven by the firm’s multidisciplinary nature and commitment to innovation. “What’s unique about Gresham Smith is that landscape architecture is truly considered an integral part of the design process—not just an afterthought,” she says. “Here, we work side by side with engineers, architects, and planners to shape solutions in a holistic way.”

One initiative particularly exciting to her is “Amplify Atlanta,” a focused effort to expand Gresham Smith’s land planning and landscape architecture presence in the city. “As a fifth-generation Atlantan, it means a lot to have the opportunity to shape how our practice grows here,” she says. “Gresham Smith sees Atlanta as a place with potential for impact, and I’m excited to be part of that investment.”

Jennie Lynn’s role continues to evolve, but at its core, it remains centered on collaboration and making the most of the firm’s breadth of expertise. “I’ve learned that the best projects happen when we embrace an integrative mindset—when we bring in civil engineers, environmental specialists, architects, and planners from day one,” she says. “That’s when we get beyond just designing landscapes and start solving systemic challenges.”

Making a Lasting Impact

When asked about the long-term impact of her work, Jennie Lynn emphasizes the importance of designing spaces that can adapt, evolve, and remain relevant for generations to come. “I think that’s what sets landscape architecture apart—it’s not just about designing for today; it’s about planning for decades down the road,” she reflects. “Whether it’s thinking about how a public space will serve future communities, how ecology will shift over time, or how cities will adapt to a changing climate, our work is never static.”

Looking ahead, she hopes to continue pushing for innovation—both in practice and through mentorship. “I want to see more students and young professionals thinking big,” she says. “Not just designing spaces, but questioning how we as landscape architects can help tackle broader environmental and urban challenges.”

When it comes to advising young professionals considering a career in landscape architecture, Jennie Lynn doesn’t hesitate: “Do it!”

 “Landscape architecture offers so many different career pathways,” she explains. “Whether you’re more analytical or more creative—whether you love plants, planning, technology, or community engagement—there’s a place for you in this field.”

She also stresses the importance of building relationships and seeking diverse perspectives. “Talk to people outside of landscape architecture. Engage with engineers, architects, planners, scientists, and community advocates,” she advises. “The best solutions come from collaboration, and when you put the right people together, you can truly create something transformative.”

For Jennie Lynn Rudder, landscape architecture is more than a profession—it’s a platform for shaping a better future. Whether through her leadership at Gresham Smith, her mentorship at UGA, or her work designing resilient, forward-thinking landscapes, she remains dedicated to making the world a more adaptive, equitable, and thriving place.

“I genuinely believe that landscape architects have the power to make the world a better place,” she says. “And I will always champion that vision.”