The long tradition of the Michigan landscape architecture program, begun nearly a century ago and with accomplished alumni all over the world, is one of its deep strengths. At the same time, its setting within the interdisciplinary School of Natural Resources and Environment keeps the program dynamically evolving in response to new knowledge in the environmental sciences, as well as new knowledge in the design disciplines. This context may help to account for Michigan having both the nation’s oldest PhD program in landscape architecture, and among its most flexible accredited professional MLA graduate degree programs. Both the long professional tradition and the evolving scientific dynamic are manifested in the high quality of the program's graduates and their success in the profession.