In 2022, Professor Ankenman and Dean Joe Holtgreive co-founded and now co-direct the Northwestern Personal Development StudioLab. The StudioLab offers classes, resources, events, materials, and a certificate to enhance the personal development of undergraduate students at Northwestern. Our certificate, Curious Life Certificate (CLC), is a series of classes that invites all undergraduate students to engage with the world in unique, productive, and open ways. Managing the stresses of contemporary life is a journey we are all on, but students, more than most, are at a time of great life changes, mounting challenges, and clashing priorities. The Personal Development StudioLab is committed to helping students cultivate healthy connections, accurate awareness, and intentional attention. To support the work of the Personal Development StudioLab, Professor Ankenman recently completed a Master of Arts in Counseling at Northwestern and is now a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Illinois.
Professor Ankenman was co-director of the Segal Design Institute for 15 years where he led the undergraduate design curriculum which consists primarily of project-based design courses that bring in external clients and users for real world projects. In 2016 at the Segal Design Institute, Professor Ankenman co-developed a course for Northwestern students with Professor Pam Daniels called Designing Your Life. It was inspired by the course of the same name at Stanford. The course is now offered multiple times per year, is extremely popular, and has drawn high praise from undergraduate students from across all schools at Northwestern.