Diane Al Shihabi, PhD is tenured associate professor in the College of Design (CoD) and the Director of Graduate Education in the Department of Interior Design. She teaches required undergraduate survey courses in design history and graduate courses in preservation and cultural heritage in online and face-to-face formats. She currently serves on the CoD Caucus for ISU’s Faculty Senate and is Chair of ISU’s Faculty Senate Faculty Development and Administrative Relations (FDAR) Council.

Dr. Al Shihabi is a scholar of Design History, specializing in the Beaux-Arts Design system, and a professional Interior Designer, certified by the National Council on Interior Design Education. She holds a PhD in Design Studies (History of Interiors) with a minor in Art (architecture) History from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and has seventeen years of high-level practice experience in the specialization of preservation. 

Her design historical research serves academia and practice in the fields of Design History and Preservation and Cultural Heritage. Prior to accepting an academic position with ISU, her firm, Diane Al Shihabi Historic Restoration, Inc., held contracts for the interior restorations of multiple state capitols and museums, including the Wisconsin State Capitol, Kentucky State Capitol, and Cyrus Yawkey Museum, among others. 

In professional validation of her work, the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) awarded her multiple first-place awards in nationally judged competitions. In addition, the Wisconsin State Historical Society awarded her multi-firm team the State Preservation Award—the highest award bestowed annually by the Society—for work on the Yawkey Museum, and the Governor of Wisconsin appointed her to the State Historic Preservation Review Board. In client recognition of her work, the Wisconsin Supreme Court recognized her role, and that of two other women, on the Wisconsin State Capitol restoration, while the Wisconsin State Senate and Joint Committee on Finance recognized her with citations. 

At Iowa State University, Dr. Al Shihabi  co-developed the Preservation and Cultural Heritage Program and currently collaborates with the Office of Cultural Heritage at the United States Department of State to research and document culturally-significant American properties abroad. 

She is an invited member of the Board of Trustees of Taliesin Preservation Inc.(TPI) and an invited member of TPI’s Facilities Committee on Preservation. Al Shihabi is a national accreditation site visitor for CIDA and a Board of Review Member for the Journal of Interior Design.