MSU architecture professor to lead cross-college endowed program
Contact: Meg Henderson
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State Associate Professor Jacob Gines is the inaugural Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers Association Endowed Professor in Innovative Wood Construction and Design.
The Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers Association established the endowed position jointly in MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design and College of Forest Resources in 2024.
Gines, who graduated with his master’s in architecture from the University of Utah in 2007, has taught architecture courses and advanced design studios at MSU since 2012. During his tenure, he has collaborated with MSU’s Department of Sustainable Bioproducts and the Mississippi Forestry Association on sustainable design using emerging and innovative forest products. Last year, he earned his Ph.D. in sustainable bioproducts, specializing in mass timber.
“I started studying mass timber in 2014, when it was just coming onto the scene in the U.S., and I’ve brought my knowledge and passion for it to my teaching and research,” he said. “I also helped lead the research and design on Utah’s first large-scale mass timber building, so I’ve been involved in the area of mass timber both academically and professionally.”
Cross-laminated timber is a form of mass timber that can replace and often outperform steel and concrete construction as a sustainable building material. Mississippi produces much lumber that goes into mass timber production throughout the U.S. In recent years, its adoption has taken off in Europe and other parts of the U.S. This sector remains relatively small in the Magnolia State, but Gines sees the program as an important first step.
“Although we have a strong timber industry, we currently don’t have CLT manufacturing in our state. Increasing proximity and availability to mass timber materials would create exciting opportunities for our state’s architects, contractors and developers,” Gines said. “Another hurdle we must address is the unfamiliarity within the architecture and construction industries, but I’m confident we can help overcome that through education, demonstration and promotion. Mississippi is positioned well to become a national leader in mass timber.”
Forming its vision to bring Mississippi to the forefront of this burgeoning industry, MLMA recognized the key role of education and identified MSU as a strong partner.
“We want to ensure that MSU’s architecture graduates learn this technology and take it with them into the workplace, and endowing a professorship can make that happen,” said Trey Hankins, MLMA president and chief financial officer of Hankins Inc.
“I feel honored and privileged to step into this role and feel a weight of responsibility to ensure that we are advancing a wood-first agenda on behalf of our valuable timber industry and the state’s 135,000 forest landowners,” Gines said. “I look forward to the new opportunities the program will provide for my students. I’m also excited to work closely with MLMA and our many stakeholders to advance the mass timber industry in Mississippi and across the Southeast.”
Visit MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design at www.caad.msstate.edu and the College of Forest Resources at www.cfr.msstate.edu. For more on the Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers Association, see www.mlmalumber.com.
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