Brenda Scheer: 10 years as dean

Brenda Scheer, Dean, College of Architecture + Planning

As I celebrate my tenth year as dean of the College of Architecture + Planning, I am struck by the huge transformation that has occurred since I first arrived here from Cincinnati in 2002. Many people do not realize how much we have grown: We have tripled the number of graduate students and increased undergraduate enrollment by 70 percent. We have more than doubled the number of permanent faculty and engaged many more of you as adjuncts in our classrooms. The Graduate School of Architecture became the College of Architecture + Planning when we added our City and Metropolitan Planning Department. We are getting ready to add an entirely new major:  Multidisciplinary Design, which is a partnership we lead with eight other colleges.

We have been able to keep up with these changes by increasing the resources for the College more than five-fold. This includes our expansion of research funding from about $70,000 a year average to almost $1 million a year today.

All this growth has brought an explosion of activity to the college: new research centers, new degrees, multiple travel opportunities for every student, a lecture or brown-bag just about every week, and the ability to help our community—from Bluff, to the West Side, to downtown. Thanks for your continuing support!