Professor picked by UVa to lead architecture school

A University of Florida architecture professor and practicing architect will be the next dean of the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture.

Kim Tanzer, who will begin July 1, will succeed Karen Van Lengen, who has led UVa’s architecture school for the past decade. Van Lengen will step down and return to the school’s faculty.

Tanzer’s teaching and research focuses on three areas: the relationship between the human body and large shared spaces, such as cities and landscapes; environmental design and sustainability; and predominately black neighborhoods and their role in social equity, according to UVa’s announcement Thursday afternoon.

“Professor Tanzer brings with her a strong background in collaborative teaching, research and community outreach that will reinforce the future direction of the school and keep it on the path toward excellence,” said UVa President John T. Casteen III in a statement. “I see the School of Architecture as a unique treasure here, and I am confident that Professor Tanzer will be a good steward of this treasure.”

UVa officials said Tanzer, 53, is widely respected in architectural circles. She has received local and national awards for her work, including for extensive work in a traditionally black neighborhood in Gainesville, Fla.

Tanzer has also served as a leader in higher education. She is a past president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. She also served as chairwoman of the University of Florida’s faculty senate and as a faculty representative on UF’s board of trustees.

UVa has four goals it would like Tanzer to accomplish during her first term, according to UVa’s announcement.

Those goals are: Creation of interdisciplinary research centers based on faculty expertise and built on faculty consensus; introduction of a doctoral program in architecture; internationalization of the architectural school; and expansion of the understanding of Thomas Jefferson’s linking of education, architectural space and democratic citizenship as expressed in his design of the Academical Village.