The five final candidates for the position of the head of the Department of Architecture of the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas will visit campus over the next five weeks for interviews and public forums.
The candidates are John McMorrough of the University of Michigan; W. Elysse Newman of Florida International University; Ulrich Dangel of the University of Texas at Austin; Craig Borum of the University of Michigan; and Nichole Wiedemann of the University of Texas at Austin. Each Wednesday, starting this week, each candidate will make a public presentation at 1 p.m. in Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, Room 250 of Vol Walker Hall.
Steve Luoni, director of the UA Community Design Center and Distinguished Professor in the Fay Jones School, led the 10-member search committee, which included members of the faculty, staff, alumni, student body and campus community.
“I want to thank Steve Luoni, Steven L. Anderson Chair in Architecture and Urban Studies, and the school’s search committee for their good work in recruiting and evaluating a slate of 31 applicants from across the world for this important position of leadership,” said Peter MacKeith, dean of the Fay Jones School. “Equally, their commitment to a demanding schedule has now brought five excellent candidates to the school for an intense period of school-wide discussion. We look forward to meeting these candidates and to exploring the potentials and opportunities of our highly regarded Department of Architecture through their experiences and insights, in this new period of collaboration with Interior Design and Landscape Architecture, and with our Community Design Center, Garvan Woodland Gardens and University of Arkansas Rome Center.”
John McMorrough is associate professor of architecture in the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. He will make a presentation at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28.
McMorrough received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kansas, a Master of Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning from Harvard University. He has taught at the University of Michigan since 2010, where he was chair of the architecture program for three years. He held previous appointments at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and Ohio State University, and he has served as lecturer and design critic at Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University and Boston Architectural Center. He is a principal at studioAPT in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Elysse Newman is associate professor and Director of Advanced Studies in the College of Architecture + The Arts at Florida International University. She will make a presentation at 1 p.m. Feb. 4.
Newman received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music Theory, a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Science in History (Psychology and Anthropology minors), all from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Architecture, a Master of Philosophy in History of Technology and Science, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Architecture, Urban Design, Planning and Landscape Architecture, all from Harvard University. She has taught at Florida International University since 2011. She previously was a visiting professor at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Tennessee, and a teaching fellow at Harvard University. Newman was a Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin.
Ulrich Dangel is associate professor and graduate adviser for architecture in the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. He will make a presentation at 1 p.m. Feb. 11.
Dangel received a Vordiplom Architektur and Diploma in Architecture, both from Universität Stuttgart in Germany, and a Master of Architecture from the University of Oregon. He has taught at the University of Texas at Austin since 2005 and was an invited lecturer in 2013 for the Fay Jones School of Architecture in the London Study Abroad Program. For his professional career, he has worked for architecture firms Foster and Partners as well as Grimshaw, both in London, and is founder and principal of Glass & Dangle in Austin.
Craig Borum is professor of architecture in the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. He will make a presentation at 1 p.m. Feb. 18.
Borum received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and a Master of Architecture, both from the University of Virginia School of Architecture. He has taught at the University of Michigan since 1997, serving two years as director of the Graduate Studies Architecture Program. He is founding partner and principal of PLY Architecture in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has won many awards for his professional design work, including an American Architecture Award, American Institute of Architects Honor Award, Boston Society of Architects Design Award and several awards from the Michigan AIA. He also has received many design competition awards.
Nichole Wiedemann is associate professor and director of the Professional Residency Program in the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. She will make a presentation at 1 p.m. Feb. 25.
Wiedemann received a Bachelor of Design in Architecture from the University of Florida and a Master of Architecture from Princeton University. She has taught at the University of Texas at Austin since 1997, serving from 2008-2013 as associate dean for undergraduate programs. Previously, she was a visiting assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Florida, as well as a visiting critic at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 2008, she was a John G. Williams Distinguished Visiting Professor for the Fay Jones School of Architecture. She is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. She also maintains a professional architecture and design practice in Austin.
Complete vitas for all of the candidates are available online at: http://architecture.uark.edu/academics/architecture/architecture-department-head-search.php.