Friday, June 19, 2009

William Morrish Named Dean of School of Constructed Environments at Parsons

Elwood R. Quesada Professor William Morrish will assume the deanship on July 1st. The School of Constructed Environments at Parsons The New School of Design houses programs in architecture, interior design, lighting design, and product design.

Morrish came to UVa in 2001 as Quesada Chair and also as the first interdisciplinary appointment between the Departments of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban and Environmental Planning. He took over the Common Course that was designed to introduce the graduate students in all of our disciplines to their shared and common mission as stewards of the natural and built environment.

A licensed architect, educated at Berkeley and the GSD at Harvard, Morrish engaged in research in the areas of sustainable urban infrastructure, new housing concepts, and global urbanization related to migration and climate change. He led many innovative studios that explored a wide range of design interventions from the scale of the city to the scale of a single building. He was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Charlottesville Community Design Center, where he helped to develop community projects and exhibitions that have deeply influenced the community.

He is the author of numerous articles on urban design and most recently has co-authored "Growing Urban Habitats, Seeking a New Housing Development Model" (Stout, 2009) with Susanne Schindler and Katie Swenson.