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Inside Iowa State, a newspaper for faculty and staff, is published by the Office of University Relations.

Feb. 13, 2009

Campus visits begin next week for Design dean finalists

by Teddi Barron, News Service

Four finalists have been named in the search for the next dean of the College of Design. They are:

  • David Edelman, director of the School of Planning, University of Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Luis Rico-Gutierrez, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts, and David Lewis Director of the Remaking Cities Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
  • Kate Schwennsen, associate dean of the College of Design
  • Christine Theodoropoulos, head of the architecture department, University of Oregon, Eugene

The finalists will visit campus during the next few weeks. Each candidate will speak and answer questions at an open forum in Kocimski Auditorium, College of Design. A reception will follow in the design atrium. A videotape of all forums will be available online after March 3.

Candidates will meet informally with faculty, staff and students in the design building on the day following their open forums. The location and times for the informal sessions will be posted online, along with the candidates' interview schedules and full vitae.

David Edelman

Since 1998, Edelman has been a professor of planning and director of the School of Planning at Cincinnati. From 1993 to 1998, he was head of urban environmental management at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Rotterdam, Netherlands. In 1992, he was principal planner for Werkstatt fur Architektur und Planung AG, Zurich, Switzerland. As a representative of the Swiss government, Edelman was an associate professor of energy planning and policy at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand (1990-92). From 1984 to 1992, he served as chief planner and economist at Motor-Columbus Consulting Engineers Inc./Holinger Ltd., Baden, Switzerland.

Between 1978 and 1983, Edelman was a consultant for several organizations, including the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, Rome; Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines; and the Organization of American States, Washington, D.C. He holds professional licenses in the United States, Switzerland, Netherlands and Europe.

Edelman earned his bachelor's degree in history (1968) from the University of Rochester, N.Y. He earned his master's in regional planning (1974) and his doctoral degree in policy planning and regional analysis (1978) from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

Luis Rico-Gutierrez

Rico-Gutierrez has been associate dean of the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon since 2001. In 2006, he was named David Lewis Director of the university's Remaking Cities Institute, an urban design research center. From 2001 to 2004, Rico-Gutierrez served as associate head of the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon, where he has been on the faculty since 1996. He was a professor in the School of Architecture at ITESM, Queretaro, Mexico (1993-96), and manager of the architecture department at Fundacion Rafael Leoz, Madrid, Spain, (1991-93).

Rico-Gutierrez chairs the innovation and new directions task force of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans. He is professionally accredited in Mexico and Spain.

Rico-Gutierrez earned his bachelor's degree in architecture (1986) from ITESM, and a graduate degree (1988) from Fundacion Rafael Leoz, Spain. He earned a master's degree in architecture (1997) from Carnegie Mellon.

Kate Schwennsen

Since 2001, Schwennsen has served as associate dean for academic programs in the College of Design, where she has been a member of the architecture faculty for 19 years. Within the department, she was associate chair for research and extension (1995-98), and associate chair for academic affairs (1998-2001). In 2006, Schwennsen served as president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). She was named an AIA fellow in 2002. She is a member of the International Union of Architects' education commission.

A licensed architect in Iowa, Schwennsen was with Bloodgood Architects and Planners, Des Moines, (1989-91), and Engelbrecht and Griffin Architects PC, Des Moines, (1981-89).

Schwennsen earned both her bachelor's degree in architecture (1978) and her master of architecture degree (1980) from Iowa State.

Christine Theodoropoulos

Since 2003, Theodoropoulos has served as associate professor and head of the architecture department in the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at Oregon. She joined the Oregon faculty in 1997, after serving seven years as a faculty member at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. From 1992 to 1997, Theodoropoulos was director of the Neutra VDL Research House,

Los Angeles. Previously, she held adjunct faculty positions at Southern California Institute of Architecture, Otis Art Institute of the Parsons School of Design, University of California, and the University of Southern California (all in Los Angeles).

She was an associate structural engineer with Ralph M. Parsons Co. in Pasadena (1979-82). Theodoropoulos is a licensed architect and registered professional civil engineer in California.

Theodoropoulos received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering (1979) from Princeton University, New Jersey, and a master of architecture degree (1985) from Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

Summary

Open forums

3:45-5 p.m., Design auditorium

Feb. 16: Rico-Gutierrez

Feb. 23: Schwennsen

Feb. 25: Edelman

March 2: Theodoropoulos