JOB OPPORTUNITY
Job title: Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning (University at Buffalo)
Hiring institution: University at Buffalo
Location: Buffalo, New York | United States
Application deadline: Open until filled
Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning
The University at Buffalo (UB) invites inquiries, nominations, and applications for the position of dean of the School of Architecture and Planning (SAP). A member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a flagship and the largest and most comprehensive public research university in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, UB is an internationally renowned center for academic excellence. Ranked No. 3 among architecture and planning schools in the United States based on the Scholarly Research Index, UB’s SAP is renowned for the quality of its academic programs and its innovation and excellence in research and design. SAP faculty, staff, and students have been deeply involved in the economic resurgence of the Buffalo-Niagara region.
Established in 1969 as the only school of architecture and planning within the SUNY system, the University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning is among the top public architecture and planning schools in the United States, ranking in the top ten among AAU peers in several key research indicators in Academic Analytics.
Deeply connected to the regional community and embedded in urban contexts around the world, the school approaches the study and practice of architecture, urban planning, and real estate development hands on and at full scale. SAP students, faculty, and staff tackle local, regional, and global issues, ranging from economic inequality, food security, and refugee resettlement, to climate-change resilience. The School plays an especially transformative role in Buffalo, helping to propel the city’s growth through support of treasured buildings and landscapes, innovative architecture, economic development initiatives, urban design, community organizing, partnerships with industry, and full-scale construction—planning and building neighborhoods, homes, playgrounds, gardens, and the infrastructure and systems that interconnect them.
SAP encompasses two departments: Architecture, and Urban and Regional Planning. SAP has 81 faculty members and 61 talented, full-time staff. The SAP’s current enrollment is 735 students. SAP’s more than 6,400 alumni hold diverse positions of influence across the architecture and planning professions, from executives and government officials, real estate developers and historic preservationists, community activists, to heads of design research enterprises. The school offers graduate and undergraduate paths of study in architecture, urban planning, and real estate development, and unique interdisciplinary programs in international development and global health, media arts and architecture, and historic preservation.
The SAP’s state-of-the-art facilities include Hayes Hall, a nationally significant architectural landmark that reopened in 2016 after a comprehensive, $30 million renovation that sets standards in historic preservation, inspirational design and sustainability. The SAP’s primary undergraduate studio spaces are held in Crosby Hall, which is undergoing a comprehensive renovation with re-occupation scheduled for Fall 2023. Further information about the Crosby Hall renovation and pictures of the project are available at https://archplan.buffalo.edu/news/2021/crosbyrenovation.html. SAP faculty, staff and students also have access to one of the premier fabrication facilities in the Western New York region. The 7,000 square foot Fabrication Workshop is the hub of SAP’s learning-through-making curriculum.
The SAP dean is a member of the university’s senior leadership team, working with the president, provost, deans, and other senior leaders to advance the university’s mission of excellence in teaching, research, and engagement. As the chief academic and administrative officer of the school, the dean reports to the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and is responsible for providing overall leadership to the school to promote academic excellence, foster an inclusive environment, and advance its national and international prominence in research, education, and engagement activities.
UB seeks an accomplished professional, educator, researcher, and leader with a strong commitment to advancing architecture and planning scholarship, creative activities, and education. The ideal candidate will be an accomplished, recognized scholar or practitioner, an intellectual driver, an advocate for the school and the university, a facilitator of interdisciplinary work within the school and across the university, an energetic and engaged partner in building and enhancing relationships with the school’s many constituents and the larger community, and a skilled administrator.
The dean should have substantial experience in a distinguished academic or comparable professional setting and the ability to formulate and articulate a shared vision for the school and engage stakeholders in its implementation. The dean will be a distinguished academic or practitioner in architecture and/or planning and will have a strong record of significant scholarly and/or design accomplishments, excellence in teaching and mentorship, and a service record appropriate to the rank of full professor at a research university.
Interested individuals should provide an electronic version of their curriculum vitae (Microsoft Word or PDF is strongly preferred). A letter describing interest in, and qualifications for, the position is recommended, but not required. All inquiries, nominations, and applications should be sent to:
Joi Hayes-Scott and Jett Pihakis
Consultants to the Search Committee
Russell Reynolds Associates
UB.SAP@russellreynolds.com
To ensure full consideration, materials should be received as soon as possible but no later than Monday, March 20, 2023. Review of nominations and applications for the position will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. To assure sensitivity toward the positions presently held by nominees and applicants, the search will be conducted in strict confidence until finalists participate in campus visits. References will not be contacted without the prior knowledge and approval of the candidates.
Please see the full position profile here. Additional information about UB’s School of Architecture and Planning can be found at https://archplan.buffalo.edu/ or at the search website: https://www.buffalo.edu/leadership-searches/current-searches/school-of-architecture-and-planning-dean-2023.html.
The University at Buffalo is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic university community committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment. Potential applicants who share this goal, including veterans and individuals with disabilities, are encouraged to apply.
