Virginia Tech has resumed its search for a new dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies and will enlist the assistance of the global executive search firm Baker-Parker Associates of Atlanta.

Mark McNamee, university provost and vice president for academic affairs, will once again chair the search committee.

"Jerry Baker, one of the principals at Baker-Parker, has worked with Virginia Tech on several executive searches and his knowledge of the university combined with his broad experience will be a great asset," said McNamee.

The search committee met with Baker on Oct. 21 to discuss the search process, consider the qualities and qualifications they seek, and set a timetable for their work.

In addition to McNamee, members of the search committee are:

  • Kathryn Albright, Architecture;
  • Dean Bork, Landscape Architecture;
  • Carol Burch-Brown, Art and Art History;
  • Ed Dorsa, Industrial Design;
  • Wilma Dunaway, Government and International Affairs;
  • Dennis Jones, Architecture;
  • Ted Koebel, Urban Affairs and Planning;
  • Robert Lang, Metropolitan Institute;
  • Richard Sorensen, dean, Pamplin College of Business;
  • Michael O'Brien, Building Construction;
  • Susan Piedmont-Palladino, Architecture;
  • Marty Simpson, Dean's Office, College of Architecture and Urban Studies;
  • Brad Whitney, Interior Design;
  • James Wolf, Center for Public Administration and Policy, and
  • A staff representative yet to be named.


McNamee asks that all members of the university community—faculty, staff, students, and alumni—identify outstanding candidates and forward nominations to Jerry Baker. The goal is to identify leading candidates this fall and complete the search early in the spring semester.

Jack Davis is currently serving as interim dean. He succeeded Paul Knox who served for nine years.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech is the most comprehensive university in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is among the top research universities in the nation. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to quality, innovation, and results through teaching, research, and outreach activities. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.

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