Dean, College of Design

Georgia Institute of Technology

Dean, College of Design

The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is one of the nation’s top research universities, distinguished by its mission to develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. A member of the prestigious Association for American Universities (AAU), Georgia Tech is proud to be ranked as one of U.S. News and World Report’s top ten American public institutions, and the fourth most innovative. The Institute maintains an endowment of $2.1 billion that propels its strategic efforts and future goals. The campus occupies more than 400 contiguous acres in the heart of the city of Atlanta, where nearly 40,000 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled. Replete with exceptional resources—including an outstanding student body, faculty, and staff; strong partnerships with government, industry, and the professional community; and support from alumni and friends, Georgia Tech is designing a future of global preeminence, leadership, and service.

The College of Design enriches the Institute’s culture of excellence and represents more than a century of design education at Georgia Tech. Students, faculty, and researchers in the College work across boundaries to anticipate the future of buildings and cities, develop new products and technologies, and to change the way people experience and compose/make music. The College unites research and technology to produce exemplary design work that spans disciplines in the Schools of Architecture, Building Construction, City & Regional Planning, Industrial Design, and Music. With $11 million in sponsored research, the College of Design conducts more sponsored research than any design college in the country. Design research at the College encompasses accessibility, aging, digital fabrication, sustainability, smart cities, and ground-breaking efforts in spatial analysis and music technology. 

The College of Design has dedicated faculty and staff—53 tenured and tenure-track faculty, 40 non-tenure-track faculty, research scientists, and 35 staff—who teach and carry out its academic mission. The College employs an accomplished cohort of senior lecturers, professors of practice, and adjunct faculty drawn from Atlanta and across the country. The College has a state budget of $13.5 million and an endowment of $20 million. In fall 2020, the College enrolled just over 1,000 students. Its student body is comprised of 455 graduate and 548 undergraduate students in its five schools.

Reporting directly to the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Dean of the College of Design is the chief academic and administrative leader for the College and serves as an essential member of Institute leadership. As the John Portman Dean's Chair, the Dean will serve as a champion and connective leader of the College and its five Schools. Serving as the strategic and intellectual leader of the College, the Dean will shape the vision and top priorities as well as manage the academic and administrative responsibilities. The Dean will advance the mission and operations of the College through collaborative and considered personnel decisions, general administration and management, strategic budgeting, fundraising, and academic program support. The Dean will guide a robust scholarship and research agenda and promote excellence in undergraduate and graduate education, including the development of multidisciplinary collaborations across the Institute.

The strongest candidates will strengthen the bridge between academics and the professional worlds of each discipline in the College. They will be able to effectively communicate the vision and value of the College of Design to internal and external audiences, and they will have a record of scholarly excellence and interdisciplinary work. They will have demonstrated impact in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion with particular strength in recruiting, nurturing, and retaining top talent. They will possess experience in academic administration, be student focused, and know how to forge collaborations with industry.

Inquiries, nominations, and applications are invited. Interested candidates should confidentially submit in electronic format (Adobe PDF files preferred)—a curriculum vitae and letter of interest to:

Joi Hayes-Scott and Jett Pihakis

Russell Reynolds Associates

GATech.Design@russellreynolds.com

(202) 654-7800

For fullest consideration, materials should be received as soon as possible and preferably by May 31.

Georgia Tech provides equal opportunity to all faculty, staff, students, and all other members of the Georgia Tech community, including applicants for admission and/or employment, contractors, volunteers, and participants in institutional programs, activities, or services. Georgia Tech complies with all applicable laws and regulations governing equal opportunity in the workplace and in educational activities. Georgia Tech prohibits discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, on the basis of race, ethnicity, ancestry, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetics, or veteran status in its programs, activities, employment, and admissions. This prohibition applies to faculty, staff, students, and all other members of the Georgia Tech community, including affiliates, invitees, and guests.

Georgia Tech has policies to promote a healthy work-life balance and is aware that attracting faculty may require meeting the needs of two careers.