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Finalists named in architecture dean search
UB’s campus architect is one of four finalists in the search for a new dean for the School of Architecture and Planning.
In addition to Robert Shibley, UB professor of architecture and campus architect, the finalists are Jay Stein, visiting distinguished professor, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University; Julia Robinson, professor of architecture, University of Minnesota; and Sharon Sutton, professor of architecture and urban design, University of Washington-Seattle.
The candidates will visit campus, beginning next week, to meet with UB stakeholders, as well as to “gain a more comprehensive view of the University at Buffalo, and specifically the School of Architecture and Planning,” notes search committee chair Arjang Assad, dean of the School of Management. Open sessions with each candidate also will be held for members of the general university community.
The dates of the campus visits:
- Robert Shibley: Visiting Sept. 27; open session is set for 10:35-11:05 a.m. in 108B Hayes Hall, South Campus.
- Jay Stein: Visiting Sept. 28; open session from 10:35-11:05 a.m. in the Dyett Gallery, 335 Hayes Hall.
- Julia Robinson: Visiting Oct. 1; open session from 10:35-11:05 a.m. in 230 Hayes Hall.
- Sharon Sutton: Visiting Oct. 3-4; open session from 10:35-11:05 a.m. Oct. 4 in 108B Hayes Hall.
Assad says the committee welcomes input from the university community, which can be sent to Ap-dean@provost.buffalo.edu
Information about the search and the finalists is available at the search website.
A UB faculty member since 1982, Robert Shibley was named to the newly created position of campus architect this spring. In this role, he serves as the president’s senior advisor on all matters relating to the physical character and quality of UB’s three campuses, including architecture, design, planning and sustainability. He oversees and implements the comprehensive physical plan—he led the effort to create the plan in his previous position as senior advisor to the president on campus planning and design—and serves as a member of the University Planning Board, which is charged with setting policy and reviewing projects for the development of the campuses.
He also chairs the Environmental Stewardship Committee, leading UB’s efforts toward achieving carbon neutrality for all university operations.
During his tenure at UB, Shibley has served as chair of the Department of Architecture and founded The Urban Design Project, a university center that brings faculty and urban design students together with local governments, community-based organizations and citizens in general to build better places and stronger communities.
He was awarded the UB President’s Medal in recognition of extraordinary service to the university at last spring’s general commencement ceremony.
On leave from SUNY-Plattsburgh, where he was provost and vice president for academic affairs, Jay Stein served as a professor and chair of the UB Department of Planning and Design from 1986-89, and as interim dean of the School of Architecture and Planning from 1988-89.
Before moving to Arizona State, he spent 19 years at the University of Florida, first as professor and chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning (1989-99), then as interim dean (1999-2001) and dean of the College of Design, Construction and Planning (2001-05), and finally as founding director of the Center for Health and the Built Environment (2005-08).
Stein is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and has authored and edited numerous books and articles, among them “Classic Readings in Urban Planning” (American Planning Association Press), “Classic Readings in Architecture” (McGraw-Hill) and “Classic Readings in Real Estate and Development” (Urban Land Institute).
He received a BA in political science from Binghamton University, an MS in political science from York University, and a PhD in urban and regional planning from the University of Michigan.
A registered architect, Julia Robinson joined the University of Minnesota faculty in 1975 as a part-time lecturer. She became an assistant professor in 1978, an associate professor with tenure in 1985 and a full professor in 1994.
Her publications reflect a wide range of interests, among them architectural theory, design methods, sociocultural factors and architectural pedagogy. She currently is working on a book titled “What’s So Special about Dutch Housing and Urbanism,” that explores contemporary housing and urban design in the Netherlands.
She has conducted semester-long studios in the Netherlands, as well as a recent studio focused on urban design and housing in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, where students spent a week in the city and presented their designs to the local community.
Robinson earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a master’s degree in anthropology, both from the University of Minnesota, and a doctorate from Delft Technical University, the Netherlands.
Sharon Sutton joined the faculty of the University of Washington in 1998 after holding positions at the University of Cincinnati (1982-84) and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (1984-97), where she was the first African-American woman in the U.S. to be promoted to full professor of architecture.
At Washington, she holds an adjunct appointment in social work, and serves as director of the Center for Environment Education and Design Studies, an interdisciplinary unit designed to enhance individual and community development through participatory research and design with K-12 schools, government agencies and grassroots organizations.
A fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Sutton has received numerous awards, among them the AIA Seattle Community Service Award, the Life Recognition Award from the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame and the Distinguished Professor Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.
She received a master’s degree in architecture from Columbia University, and a master of philosophy, a master of arts and a PhD in psychology, all from City University of New York’s Environmental Psychology Program.
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