The University of Virginia School of Architecture has appointed two new associate deans, beginning in Fall 2010. Associate Professor Phoebe Crisman has been named as Associate Dean of Research, and Associate Professor Kirk Martini has been named as Associate Dean of Academics. The appointments were announced by Architecture School Dean Kim Tanzer.

Phoebe Crisman teaches design studios, architectural theory, and urbanism. Educated at Harvard and Carnegie Mellon, she is a registered architect, urbanist and principal of Crisman+Petrus Architects. She has received numerous grants and national awards for her design, research and teaching, including the AIA Education Honor Award, JAE Best Design as Scholarship Article Award, and US EPA P3 Sustainability Award. Crisman’s recent writings about green architecture; material, memory and the bodily senses; and environmental education have been published extensively. She led an interdisciplinary collaboration of students and community partners to design and build the award-winning Learning Barge—a floating, self-sustaining environmental education field station on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, Virginia. Crisman also serves on the Board of Directors for the University of Virginia Press and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.

As Associate Dean of Research, Crisman will facilitate individual faculty research, scholarship, and creative activity; coordinate the School’s collaborative research by strengthening existing interdisciplinary teaching and research efforts; participate in and strengthen the School’s international efforts; and serve as coordinator for issues regarding sustainability.

Kirk Martini began teaching in the department of architecture in 1992, following a post-doctoral fellowship at Tokyo University. His teaching includes structural design, as well as photography. In 2008 he won an All-University teaching award, the highest recognition for excellence in teaching at U.Va. His research interests include seismic design and nonlinear structural analysis. His "Arcade" software for nonlinear dynamic structural analysis won the Premiere award for engineering education software in 2007. Martini holds a Master of Architecture degree and a Ph.D. in structural engineering, both from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a licensed civil engineer in the state of California.

As Associate Dean of Academics, Martini’s responsibilities will include student support and management of student services; coordination of academic and curricular matters, including development of new courses and a new Ph.D. program; management of building operations; and coordination of the academic component of information technologies.