Dear UT Community,
I am writing to let you know that Michelle Addington has decided to conclude her tenure as Dean of the School of Architecture and will step down at the end of the 2022-23 academic year. A national search will soon begin to identify her successor.
Dean Addington, who holds the Henry M. Rockwell Chair in Architecture at UT, was appointed Dean in 2017 after serving as a professor at the Yale School of Architecture and the Yale School of the Environment for 11 years. As a trained architect and engineer, she is widely regarded for her teaching and research excellence and her expertise in sustainable energy systems, advanced materials and new technologies. Prior to joining Yale, Dean Addington taught at Harvard University and worked at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. In 2009, she was named one of America’s 10 best architecture professors by Architect Magazine.
Dean Addington is a longtime champion for diversity, equity and inclusion and has led significant efforts for more representation in both higher education and the architecture field. During her tenure as Dean, the School of Architecture expanded its Race and Gender in the Built Environment Initiative, welcomed its most diverse incoming undergraduate classes, and secured the John S. Chase Endowed Graduate Fellowship and Endowed Professorship in Architecture, which helps to recruit graduate students from historically Black colleges and universities to the school and increase representation in the profession.
In 2018, she reimagined the structure of the school to more comprehensively support interdisciplinary connections, student support, and increased research output. She also helped lead the renovation and transformation of the West Mall Office Building and the new “studio of the future,” increasing the school’s capacity for teaching, global collaboration, and the use of digital technologies in review processes.
Dean Addington also strengthened the School of Architecture’s relationship with the City of Austin. During her tenure, the school collaborated with Austin on significant studies around transportation, housing and gentrification. The school hosted the Mayor’s Institute on City Design and investigated the impact of different planning scenarios involving the Austin Convention Center and the St. John Tracfinalt in North Austin. Under Dean Addington’s leadership, the school secured a major donation to expand its Urban Design program, created 29 new permanent endowments, and received over $17 million in grants and sponsored research.
After this academic year, Dean Addington will remain on the faculty and continue to provide leadership for our campus sustainability efforts.
Dean Addington has been a passionate leader and has had a significant impact on our university. Please join me in celebrating her many accomplishments and outstanding service as Dean.
Sincerely,
Sharon L. Wood
Executive Vice President and Provost