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He has a nice profile?

We just found out, but apparently on May 14th, ANOTHER dean of an RPI college was secretly announced to the world. (Do they really mean to leak this stuff?)

Mr. Evan Douglis will be the new Dean of the School of Architecture effective August 1st 2009. He comes to us as the former Chair of the Undergraduate Department in the School of Architecture at Pratt Institute. Douglis has previously taught at Columbia and The Cooper Union, as well as abroad at various institutes in Spain and China. He is the principal of the Evan Douglis Studio. Part of Douglis’ work has to do with ” the role of smart building materials in sustainable design, the function and use of modular building components, and the relationship between functional structure and ornament.” Bottom line? He sounds pretty impressive.

You may not recognize him if you see him on campus, (is RPI the new Pleasantville?) but I’m pretty sure he’d love a warm welcome in the fall too.

Current Acting Dean Mark Mistur will return to his academic position as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture when Douglis takes his new position.

photo: pratt.edu

Dr. Jackson’s letter is after the jump.

To:      The Rensselaer Community
From:    Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D.
President
Professor of Physics
Professor of Engineering Sciences
Date:    May 14, 2009
Subject: Appointment of the Dean of Architecture

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Evan Douglis as Dean of the School of Architecture. Mr. Douglis will join Rensselaer on August 1, 2009.

Mr. Douglis is currently the Chair of the Undergraduate Department in the School of Architecture at Pratt Institute. Prior to his appointment at Pratt, he served as Assistant Associate Professor at Columbia University, the Director of Columbia University’s Architecture Galleries, and as a Visiting Professor at The Cooper Union. Mr. Douglis has also taught at various programs both nationally and internationally, including the International University at Cataluyna, Barcelona, Spain; Hubei Fine Arts Institute in Wuhan, China; SCI-Arc Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles; and The Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

As the Dean of Architecture at Rensselaer, Mr. Douglis will be responsible for leading the School of Architecture into a higher position of national and international prominence through the pursuit of excellence in undergraduate and graduate educational programs and research. Mr. Douglis is expected to continue the development of

interdisciplinary initiatives, as well as the appointment, promotion, and development of a diverse world-class faculty and staff.

Mr. Douglis is the principal of Evan Douglis Studio, an internationally renowned architecture and interdisciplinary design firm focused on innovative and contemporary design. The firm is recognized for research utilizing digital design and fabrication technology and new, diverse building components for gallery installations and commercial projects. Mr. Douglis’ work encompasses the role of smart building materials in sustainable design, the function and use of modular building components, and the relationship between functional structure and ornament.

His work has been included in the publications Sign as Surface; INDEX Architecture; The State of Architecture at the Beginning of the 21st Century; the 2004 ARCHILAB Exhibition Catalog titled Naked City; and the 2005 Phaidon publication titled 10×10_2.  In 2007, his work was showcased in the competition catalogue Distinguishing Digital Architecture: 6th Far Eastern International Digital Architectural Design Award and Brick: the book, a publication that features the latest in brick design. His work also has appeared in the books FURNISH: Furniture and Interior Design for the 21st Century and Architecture Now 5. His book Autogenic Structures was released in December 2008.

Mr. Douglis earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture in 1983 from The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union and his Master of Architecture Degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.

He was awarded a Distinguished Professorship in Design from The City College of New York in 2008, and was selected as a participant and exhibitor in the 2004 ARCHILAB International Conference in Orleans, France. His firm was one of ten international firms selected by Architectural Record as part of its December 2005 Design Vanguard Competition profile.

Mr. Douglis received a 2005 Design Merit Award in the International FEIDAD Competition, and he was a finalist nominee for the 2006 North American James Beard Foundation Restaurant Design Awards. In 2006 he received the ACADIA Award for Emerging Digital Practice and was a selected fellow in the EKWC European Ceramic Work Centre’s Brick Project Residency Program at the European Ceramic Work Centre in Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. His project fLORA-flex was exhibited in the recent

Rotterdam Biennale 2007, which illustrated the future of the brick as beautiful, rounded modular tiles.

Mr. Douglis is a thoughtful, energetic, personable, and widely experienced leader.  He brings an outstanding combination of successful teaching, scholarship, research, professional practice, academic leadership, and creative vision to Rensselaer at a time when we are moving boldly into new fields that will be critically important in the 21st century.

Let me also take this opportunity to express my appreciation and to personally thank Mr. Mark Mistur for serving as the Acting Dean of the School of Architecture. He will return to his academic position as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture.

Please join me in thanking Mr. Mistur and in welcoming Mr. Evan Douglis to our community.

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