Department Chairperson, Department of Architecture

Overview

The Department of Architecture in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) at Cornell University invites applications for the position of full-time department chairperson at the advanced associate or full professor level, based in Ithaca, New York. This is a unique opportunity for an accomplished and ambitious person to provide collaborative leadership for the department. Architecture at Cornell has a long and distinguished record of design education, influential scholarship, transformative research, creative practice, and pedagogical innovation and is committed to leading the field in these areas.  While remaining true to its longstanding strengths and to the ongoing development of its professional and research degree programs, the department is firmly committed to addressing the multiple challenges currently facing the field/discipline, including diversity and inclusion, social equity, environmental sustainability, and public health and safety. The successful candidate will undergo an expedited review process for indefinite tenure as a departmental faculty member at the advanced associate or full professor level; whereas the appointment to the chair position is for three years with the possibility of being renewed for an additional three-year term.

Department Details

Situated within a world-class research university, the Department of Architecture is home to two top-ranked, internationally renowned professional degree programs (B.Arch. and M.Arch.), as well as research-focused and post-professional master's degrees in Advanced Architectural Design (M.S. AAD), Advanced Urban Design (M.S. AUD), and a Ph.D. in the History of Architecture and Urban Development (HAUD). The approximately 425 students in the department come from across the country and around the world, creating a remarkably diverse and intellectually stimulating academic environment. The department currently has 25 tenured/tenure-track/professor of the practice faculty with roughly an equal number of visiting faculty from emerging and/or established practices, or who are internationally distinguished scholars in the field.

The department's center of operations is in Ithaca, New York, where the resources and opportunities for innovative and interdisciplinary collaborations across both the college and the university are extensive. Physical facilities for Architecture are contained within three interconnected buildings situated on the campus's Arts Quad: historic Sibley Hall, the OMA-designed Milstein Hall, and the recently renovated Rand Hall, which holds the Mui Ho Fine Arts Library and state-of-the-art Material Practices workshop facilities.

The department also has fully integrated academic programs with facilities in New York City and Rome. In New York, interactions with Cornell Tech master's degree programs are growing quickly, and our extensive alumni connections in the city also greatly enrich the academic program. The reach and engagement of the department's students, faculty, academic programs, research initiatives, and alumni connections alike go well beyond New York City and Rome, and every semester there are strategic engagement initiatives in various locations and cultural contexts around the globe.

About the College

The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University (Cornell AAP) is home to nearly 1000 students, 120 faculty, and 65 staff members who come together from around the world to take up some of today's most urgent challenges and advance research, inquiry, and design to build a more just and sustainable future.

A vital college at one of the nation's foremost research universities, Cornell AAP bridges fields and faculty with five departments, 20 degree programs, 18 faculty-led labs, and the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities, a platform for building partnerships that make a positive impact in our cities and communities nationally and internationally.

Cornell AAP's departments include Architecture, Art, and Planning, as well as the new multicollege Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate, jointly led by the S.C. Johnson College of Business, and the multicollege Department of Design Tech, administered by Cornell AAP in partnership with Cornell Bowers CIS, Cornell Engineering, the Cornell Human Ecology, and Cornell Tech. The college is housed across three locations (Ithaca, New York; New York City; and Rome, Italy), each offering world-class facilities and cutting-edge technologies.

Cornell AAP is about acts of transformation. We are committed to building a caring, inclusive, and rigorous community around our shared priorities — Creative + Critical Practices, Sustainability + Social Impact, Design + Emerging Technologies, and the Future of Cities + Development — that enable us to reimagine and reshape the world in radically new ways, every day.

Qualifications

Desirable qualifications for this position include: 

• A record of distinction in teaching.
• A record of exceptional professional practice and/or creative research work and scholarship.
• Experience in academic administration.
• A national/global perspective on architectural education, practice, research, and scholarship.

The candidate should have a breadth of knowledge and diversity of interests in the field, including (but not limited to): design, sustainability, building technology, emerging technologies, history and theory, global cities, social impact, ethics and humanism, and how diversity, inclusion and social equity objectives are addressed in the field of architecture. A professional bachelor's or master's degree in the field of architecture and/or a Ph.D. in the field of architecture or in a related field is required. Overall qualifications must be commensurate with the requirements for a tenured faculty position at Cornell University.

The candidate must demonstrate leadership and the ability to work effectively in partnership with others. The chair works strategically and collaboratively to establish departmental priorities and manage the complexity and interconnectedness of its various degree programs while working effectively and inclusively with the department's various program directors, faculty, students, and staff.  At Cornell, the department chair works closely and collaboratively with the dean and college leadership and administration to steward the department's academic mission and operations, as well as its involvement with broader college and university initiatives.

The department is particularly interested in candidates who can provide strategic vision and leadership — in academic programs, research activities, and administrative management. The department is interested in candidates who are attuned to the rapidly changing nature of design practice and the drivers behind this change, embrace innovative and expanded methods for conducting research in architecture, support creative design and scholarly research at all levels, attend to junior faculty development, and expand outreach and collaboration in ways that help our students continue to be leaders within this ever-changing field.

Candidates should have knowledge and experience in managing academic programs and faculty, including an aptitude to manage budgets, engage in financial planning, and oversee policies and procedures. Candidates are expected to articulate intellectual and pedagogical visions for the future of architectural education — engaging creative practice, scholarship, and public/community-facing initiatives.

The successful candidate will have an opportunity to collaborate on new faculty hiring, strengthen B.Arch. and graduate programs, strengthen Cornell Architecture's presence and connection to outside institutions and practices, and foster national and global collaborations that augment our existing programs in New York City and Rome. The department is also interested in candidates whose vision stimulates innovative, synergistic, and collaborative relationships with other disciplines at the college, including Art, City and Regional Planning, Real Estate, and Design Tech, as well as related departments across the university.

Required Application Materials

• A letter of interest specifying how the candidate's skills and experiences align with the required qualifications and search objectives.
• A CV that highlights notable achievements.
• The names and contact information for five references. (Reference information must be provided at the time of application, but these people will not be contacted without notifying the applicant in advance.)
• Application materials are to be submitted digitally.

Deadlines

Applications will be reviewed beginning October 26, 2023, and will be accepted until the position is filled. The new department chair appointment will begin July 1, 2024.

Benefits

The hiring range for this position is $120,000–$150,000, plus additional administrative compensation, based on the selected candidate's qualifications. A generous benefits package includes educational benefits, access to wellness programs, employee discounts, health care options, generous paid leave provisions, and excellent retirement contributions. Cornell has been nationally recognized as an award-winning workplace for health, well-being, sustainability, and diversity initiatives.

Questions and Additional Information

Chair Search Committee
Dean's Office
College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
129 Sibley Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-7301
607-255-9110
aap_associatedean@cornell.edu