The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has announced three finalists for the position of Dean of the College of Architecture. The candidates, selected through a national search, will visit campus between September 28th and October 11th.
Candidates will participate in multi-day interviews with the college’s faculty, staff and students, as well as a variety of stakeholders. A public presentation beginning at 4:00 p.m. in the Sheldon Museum’s Ethel S. Abbott Auditorium will be offered in person and virtually via Zoom.
The finalists, listed by public presentation date, are:
29 Sep — Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg is the Julie Neupert Stott Chair in Design, Associate Dean for Research at the College of Design, Director of the School of Architecture and Environment, and Professor of Architecture at the University of Oregon (Eugene, Oregon) | zoom link
4 Oct — Karl Daubmann is Dean of the College of Architecture and Design and Professor of Architecture at Lawrence Technological University (Southfield, Michigan) | zoom link
11 Oct — Ming-Han Li is a director and professor in the School of Planning, Design and Construction at Michigan State University (East Lansing, Michigan) | zoom link
Additional candidate information, including zoom links for virtual public presentations, resumes, and candidate evaluation forms, is available on the College of Architecture Dean Search website: go.unl.edu/archdean.
The College of Architecture houses the university’s programs in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, and community and regional planning.
The Dean is the academic and administrative leader of the college and directs the strategic, programmatic, financial, fundraising and managerial operations that support the college’s mission and vision. The Dean serves as the public voice of the college and develops its reputation on the national and international stage and within the profession. The Dean reports directly to the Executive Vice Chancellor and works with other Deans and campus leaders in collaboration, support and commitment to the University.
Kevin van den Wymelenberg
Interview dates: 28.-29. September
Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg is the Julie Neupert Stott Chair in Design, Associate Dean for Research at the College of Design, Director of the School of Architecture and Environment, and Professor of Architecture at the University of Oregon. Previously, he was acting head of the architecture department.
He founded and directs the Institute for Health in the Built Environment, directs the Biology and the Built Environment Center, and directs the Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory in the cities of Portland and Eugene. Before Oregon, he was a professor at the University of Idaho Boise, where he founded the Integrated Design Lab.
Van Den Wymelenberg’s research and creative practice aims to facilitate integration with a broad network of researchers and practitioners on issues of health, comfort and sustainability in the human ecosystem to support the health of people, communities and planet. Since 2004, he has received over $40 million in research funding related to indoor environmental quality from organizations such as the United States Economic Development Administration, the National Science Foundation, the United States Environment Protection Agency, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Business Oregon, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, Nike, Microsoft, Siemens, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and several other private companies. He has published three books and over 100 peer-reviewed articles and given nearly 300 invited talks.
Van Den Wymelenberg holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture with a minor in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received his Masters of Architecture and his PhD in Built Environments from the University of Washington.
Karl Daubmann
Interview dates: 3.-4. October
Karl Daubmann is Dean of the College of Architecture and Design and Professor of Architecture at Lawrence Technological University. Before joining LTU, he was associate dean and professor at the University of Michigan for 17 years. He has been a visiting professor at Roger Williams University, the University of Cincinnati, and Boston Architectural College as the Sasaki Distinguished Visiting Professor. His teaching areas include design, digital design, robotic manufacturing, engineering, leadership and multidisciplinary design.
Daubmann is a registered architect with a number of outstanding projects inspired and driven by his broad interest in design. A former partner of PLY Architecture, he has co-authored a wide range of work exploring design and digital fabrication with a local focus in Michigan. PLY’s work has been published nationally and internationally and has received awards for both built and speculative projects. From 2010 to 2013 he was Vice President of Design and Creative Director at Blu Homes. In this role, he oversaw site-specific projects and led a creative and multidisciplinary product development team that created modern, eco-friendly prefabricated homes that could be folded for shipping to North America.
He received his Bachelor of Architecture from Roger Williams University and a Master of Science in Architectural Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he focused on design computing. He is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. His research during his stay in Rome focused on building geometry related to the Baroque.
Ming Han Li
Interview dates: 10.-11. October
Ming-Han Li is a director and professor in Michigan State University’s School of Planning, Design and Construction. He directs four professional programs—construction management, interior design, landscape architecture, and urban and regional planning—a doctoral program and the National Charrette Institute, an outreach and engagement unit.
The interdisciplinary background is Li’s unique strength. He is a professional landscape architect, a certified planner from the American Institute of Certified Planners, and a professional engineer. Service on the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture was the highlight of Li’s career, including president, president-elect, past president, vice president for research, second vice president, and track chair. He currently serves on the Landscape and Environmental Design Committee of the National Academies Transportation Research Board.
Li’s research and practical experience includes stormwater management, low-impact development, and watershed design and management. His teaching includes the built environment, sustainable water management, green development and landscape architecture with an emphasis on experiential learning.
In 2017, Li was named one of DesignIntelligence’s 25 Most Admired Educators and inducted into the Academy of Fellows by CELA. Because of his contribution to the discovery of knowledge, Li was inducted into the Council of Fellows by the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2019. Li is one of five Fellows from the Michigan State Cohort for the Big Ten Academic Alliance’s 2022-23 Academic Leadership Program.
Li holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering from National Taiwan University and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He also holds a Masters of Landscape Architecture and a PhD in Urban and Regional Studies from Texas A&M University.
