Spectrum - Volume 19 Issue 24 March 20, 1997 - CAUS dean candidates make campus visits

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CAUS dean candidates make campus visits

By Julie Kane

Spectrum Volume 19 Issue 24 - March 20, 1997

The Search Committee for Dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies is bringing four candidates to campus. Chaired by former CAUS dean and current vice president of Development and University Relations Charles W. Steger, the committee will identify a replacement for Patricia K. Edwards, who will step down at the end of the semester.

As part of the interviewing process, each candidate visits the Center for Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech's Northern Virginia Graduate Center in Falls Church. Two days are set aside for meetings with the search committee, the dean's staff, department heads and chairs, CAUS staff and student leaders. Candidates also meet with President Paul Torgersen and Provost Peggy Meszaros, as well as the university vice presidents and the other college deans. Each candidate will participate in a college-wide forum.

The first of the four finalists to be interviewed (March 9-12) was Roger L. Schluntz, a professor of architecture from the University of Miami, where he was dean of the School of Architecture from 1993-95. Before his tenure at Miami, he was professor of architecture at Arizona State University for 12 years. During that time, he held positions of increasing responsibility including five years as dean of the School of Architecture. Schluntz received his bachelor of architecture degree from Nebraska, and his master of architecture degree from California-Berkeley. He is a certified professional architect with licenses in Nebraska, Arizona, and Florida, and has maintained a private practice since 1976. He has served as consultant and sole practitioner for various public buildings in several Western states and has provided urban planning, site design, programming and other pre-design services to clients. Elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) in 1996, Schluntz has received special recognition and received numerous awards over a 20-year period. He has been a member of several accrediting teams for the National Architecture Accreditation Board (NAAB). For three years, he was executive director of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). A prolific author, Schluntz was also editor of the Journal of Architectural Education .

James F. Barker is scheduled to be on campus through tomorrow. Barker has been dean of the College of Architecture at Clemson University since 1986. He was also dean of the School of Architecture at Mississippi State University where he held successive leadership positions after joining the university in 1977. Barker has a bachelor's in architecture from Clemson and a master's in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to his duties as dean of architecture at Clemson, Barker has served university-wide committees for such matters as strategic planning, provost search, facilities planning, and the campus master plan. Professionally, he is a consultant for private and public clients. From 1971-86 he practiced architecture, designing a diversity of projects which included a ski resort in the Sierra Mountains, a middle-school restoration, an 80,000 square-foot commercial development complex, and several private residences. Barker was president of the ACSA from 1991-94 and has served on the NAAB since 1984. His research and publications deal with small-town design. He has won a number of AIA design awards and became a member of the FAIA in 1994. In 1996, he was named a distinguished professor by the national ACSA.

CAUS Professor Robert J. Dunay, now serving as CAUS associate dean of finance and administration, will interview March 24-27. Dunay received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture at Virginia Tech and has been professor and administrator in the college since 1975. He has taught at all levels of the architecture program, from first-year undergraduate studios to master's thesis in the graduate school. His responsibilities have included administration, curriculum development, budget allocations, and program management. At the university level, Dunay has served on the University Building Committee, the Commission on University Support, the University Finance and Discussion Group, and the University Council. Dunay has significantly contributed to course development in architecture and played a significant role in the Study Abroad Program. Currently, he chairs the search committee for the director of the Center of European Studies and Architecture in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland. He has secured several large endowments for the college including a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to study the relation of institutional structures, neighborhood fabric, and downtown identity. He has written or been the subject of numerous articles in his field. In 1996, he edited the Olivio Ferrari Portfolio , an exhibition catalog of essays and design work. He recently won a state masonry award for his residence addition, Pear Hall. Dunay's practice concentrates on residential design, school and small-town renovation, and urban redesign.

The fourth candidate, scheduled March 25-27, is R. Wayne Drummond, professor and dean of the College of Architecture at the University of Florida since 1990. Drummond has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, a bachelor of architecture from Louisiana State University, a master's of architecture from Rice University, and a diploma in architecture from the Fountainbleau School of Music and Fine Arts in Fountainbleau, France. Drummond has held top administrative positions in architecture at Texas Tech, Rice University, and Auburn University. He has received numerous awards and became a member of the FAIA in 1996. He was president of the East Alabama AIA Chapter and has made accreditation visits for the United States and Canada as a member of NAAB. Throughout his career, he has served on numerous committees and conferences of the ACSA. Drummond is president of the Florida Foundation for Architecture and was recently appointed for a two-year term to the Governor of Florida's Study Commission on Building Codes and Standards.

After the interviews are completed, evaluations from the faculty and staff of the college are to be returned to the search committee by April 1. After studying the evaluations and reviewing other criteria, the committee will make a selection and send its report to Meszaros.