Alejandro Zaera-Polo has stepped down from the deanship of Princeton University's School of Architecture to devote greater attention to his research and other professional activities.
President Christopher L. Eisgruber reported the dean's resignation to faculty in the School of Architecture on Oct. 1. He announced that the school's former dean, Professor Stanley T. Allen, will serve as acting dean until a permanent successor is appointed and that Professor Allen will chair the search for the new dean.
Joining Professor Allen on the search committee will be architecture professors Christine Boyer, Paul Lewis and Guy Nordenson. Two graduate students will be selected as non-voting members of the committee.
In his announcement, Eisgruber expressed his gratitude to Professor Zaera-Polo for his service as dean and to Professor Allen for serving as acting dean. "I hope that all members of the school community will assist us in making this transition to new leadership as smooth as possible," he wrote.
Zaera-Polo remains a professor in the School of Architecture. He was appointed as dean in 2012 after having been a visiting lecturer in architecture at Princeton since 2008. An internationally renowned architect and scholar, Zaera-Polo was the founder and principal of Alejandro Zaera-Polo Architecture, an international practice based in London and Barcelona, and a founding partner of London-based Foreign Office Architects. He previously served as dean of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam.
Allen, the George Dutton '27 Professor of Architecture and director of the Center for Architecture, Urbanism and Infrastructure, served as dean of the School of Architecture from 2002 to 2012. He is a practicing architect and principal of SAA/Stan Allen Architect and a member of both the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects and the National Academy of Design.
