Description
Dean, Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design
Position Description
Overview
The University of Houston (UH) requests nominations and applications for the Dean of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design. This is a singular leadership opportunity at one of the nation’s most dynamic research universities, situated in a city that is simultaneously one of the world’s great built-environment laboratories and an emerging center of architectural and design culture. This is also a moment of significant transformation in architecture and design education, driven by advances in artificial intelligence, computational design, climate imperatives, and the blurring of disciplinary boundaries. The next Dean will be a forward-thinking leader who embraces that transformation and positions the Hines College at the leading edge of what design education can be.
The next Dean will be an engaging, charismatic, and compassionate leader for the faculty; a strong advocate for the teaching, research, and practice mission of the College; a preeminent university citizen and leader who can represent the College campus-wide; and an energetic and conscientious administrator with strong acumen for finances and strategic resource allocation. The successful candidate will be familiar with evolving challenges that face students and faculty alike in higher education, architecture, interior architecture, environmental design, industrial design, and other related fields; and the successful candidate will be an energetic and visionary leader who will lead the College into its next era and play a leading role in supporting and strengthening UH’s position as a nationally leading Tier One research university.
The Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design
Named in honor of legendary Houston developer and real estate icon Gerald D. Hines, the College of Architecture and Design is one of the premier architecture and design schools in the South and Southwest. The College celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2024 and is committed to excellence in teaching, research, and creative practice by leveraging its accomplishments and expertise on behalf of the University, the profession, and the city of Houston. The Hines College offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in Architecture, Interior Architecture, Environmental Design, and Industrial Design, with total enrollment of 677 (609 undergraduates and 68 graduate students). The Hines College is distinguished by its commitment to integrating conceptual rigor with real-world application, producing graduates who are prepared to professionally and conceptually engage the full complexity of the built environment across disciplines and geographies.
Among the Hines College faculty are fellows of national and professional societies, recipients of national design awards, and recognized leaders in research spanning climate resilience, design technologies, historic preservation, design/build, and community-centered urban design. The research contributions of Hines College faculty and students influence communities not only in Houston but nationally and throughout the world.
The Hines College is accredited through the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). As of November 2023, the College's interior architecture and industrial design programs received NASAD accreditation; among the 32 schools applying for first-time accreditation, only the University of Houston and one other institution were granted accreditation without deferral.
The College is strongly student-oriented and proud of its record in student success. Hines College students have earned top honors at the AIA Fort Worth Student Design Awards for five consecutive years, and METROPOLIS Magazine named two Hines College students to its Future100 list in recognition of their commitment to addressing environmental and social challenges through design. A Hines College alumnus recently earned a Steve Jobs Archive Fellowship, a highly selective program supporting young creators working at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts. In addition to the College's regional and national achievements, it continues to garner international recognition. The College received the prestigious Global Arts Foundation Award for "Risky Habit[at]" at the International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. The College also mounted a highly praised exhibition of student work, "Houston Genetic City," at the Aedes Architecture Gallery in Berlin.
The College also establishes connections to leading figures in the discipline where there are opportunities to do so. Among others, Thom Mayne, founder of the Los Angeles firm Morphosis and recipient of the 2005 Pritzker Prize (architecture's highest honor), served as a studio consultant to the College on its project at the Aedes Architecture Gallery in Berlin; Michael Rotondi, who co-led Morphosis with Mayne for 16 years before founding RoTo Architects and who co-founded the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), has similarly served as a studio consultant for the College, on its project for the Venice Biennale’s “Time Space Existence” exhibition.
The Hines College maintains or participates as a partner in a robust portfolio of research labs and other research enterprises, all of which enhance the College’s research output and strategically position the College as a national leader in research, creative work, and applied practice in architecture and design. designLAB serves as the professional design-services arm of the College, generating preliminary design studies as well as research and development work across the disciplines of architecture, planning, and industrial design, with Houston as its primary laboratory and the broader urban world as its intended beneficiary. The recently formed BUILD+ extends the College's commitment to community-engaged design practice. The University-level Community Design Resource Center (CDRC), active since 2005, advances that commitment further by partnering directly with low-to-moderate income communities across the Houston region on issues of community development, affordable housing, and civic design. The Graduate Design/Build Studio, now in its 38th year, is a hands-on teaching initiative that rapidly builds professional skills and student confidence while creating lasting community impact. Additional centers and affiliations include:
- Keeland Design Exploration Lab
- Construction Robotics And Fabrication Technologies Lab
- GULFLab: Gulf Urbanism And Landscape Futures
- Materials Research Collaborative
- BASE: Building Analytics And Sustainable Environments Lab
- Health Design Lab
- Adaptive Urban Systems Research Lab
- PXD: Product Experience Design Lab
- Empathetic Lifespan AI & Robotics For Aging (ELARA) Lab
- Historic Preservation And Cultural Sustainability Institute For The Arts And Humanities
Additional information about the Hines College of Architecture and Design can be found at https://www.uh.edu/architecture/.
Position Summary
Reporting to the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, the Dean serves as the Chief Academic and Administrative Officer of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design. The Dean is responsible for providing energetic, visionary, and effective leadership in the following areas:
- Academic Leadership and Strategic Planning: These responsibilities include directing and overseeing the programs of the College as well as developing the strategic directions of the College in concert with the University’s Strategic Plan. The Dean articulates the long-range vision, specific strategies, and detailed administrative and fiscal provisions to ensure the continued excellence of the College programs and faculty. The Dean works closely with the University’s executive leadership and with other University of Houston Deans on multidisciplinary hiring and on research and teaching programs. The successful candidate will promote the University and the Hines College and actively participate in hands-on management and open decision-making in a culture of shared governance.
- Faculty Appointments: The Dean of the Hines College is responsible for the recruitment, appointment, reappointment, promotion, and tenure of faculty in the College. The Dean works through the established appointment, promotion, and tenure processes of the College and the University and is responsible for maintaining the integrity of these processes. The Dean works with the faculty to implement long-range recruiting strategies for the Hines College, formulated in collaboration with the Provost. The Dean is responsible for meeting or exceeding the University’s recruiting objectives for quality and productivity with intentionality to maintain disciplinary representation across the College's design disciplines and strategic goals.
- Budgetary and Administrative Oversight: The Dean is responsible for overseeing the College’s budget and for the strategic allocation of resources in the College. The Dean allocates the resources necessary to support the faculty research agenda, facilitate extramurally funded research, and fund graduate students and programs, and the Dean is responsible for the establishment of effective internal cost controls within the College. The Dean is responsible for coordinating the activities of program directors, the Hines College faculty, associate and assistant Deans, and staff. And the Dean is responsible for the allocation of academic and research facilities, planning for future facilities’ needs, overseeing non-faculty staffing decisions and organization, and developing collaborative teaching and research programs with other UH colleges and divisions.
- Stewardship and Development: The Dean plays a pivotal role in representing the needs of the Hines College and UH to external constituents and donors – on regional, national, and international levels. The Dean has primary responsibility for articulating the philanthropic aspirations of the Hines College in conjunction with the long-range strategic plans of the University. The Dean works collaboratively with the President’s leadership team and other academic and University leaders across campus in planning for the College’s fundraising priorities and In executing those plans the Dean engages proactively with the University’s development staff, development officers and liaisons, volunteer advisory boards, and with the College’s own academic leadership. In addition, the Dean plays a critical role in ensuring that philanthropic donations are well stewarded in accordance with donor expectations, address needs within the College, and are communicated fully and in a timely manner with both the College and University communities.
Qualifications
The next Dean of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design will possess a distinguished record of academic and professional achievement, superior interpersonal and management skills, and a demonstrated commitment to UH’s mission, vision, and students. In addition, leading candidates should:
- Have an outstanding record of scholarly and/or creative achievement commensurate with appointment as a full professor in one of the College’s programs;
- Possess a terminal degree in architecture, design, or a closely related field;
- Demonstrate the capacity to bridge theory and practice;
- Possess the ability to serve as an engaging fundraiser and advocate on behalf of the Hines College at the local, national, and international levels; and to further develop the College’s external relationships to not only increase philanthropic donations but to stimulate productive partnerships with external constituencies;
- Have proven people skills and be a highly effective listener and communicator with both academic and non-academic audiences;
- Be a seasoned and decisive but also a compassionate, empathetic servant leader with strong organizational and consensus-building skills, integrity, and the ability to inspire and lead a highly accomplished faculty with diverse interests;
- Have a commitment to providing students with a high-quality educational experience and aggressively addressing issues related to student success;
- Demonstrate a commitment to assessment and accountability measures that will help to guide and enhance strategic planning goals in accordance with UH’s Strategic Plan, and to appropriately track and articulate the College and University’s national competitiveness;
- Have demonstrated ability to build multidisciplinary programs and to create an internationally focused, professionally engaged, and outwardly-facing educational environment for students;
- Bring an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to the Dean position and serve as a catalyst for new and compelling initiatives in the College;
- Demonstrate familiarity with, and a forward-looking perspective on, emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, computational design, and design automation, and their implications for both the practice and pedagogy of architecture and design;
- Be adept at fiscal management, both in establishing and implementing budgets and in effectively allocating resources; and
- Share the commitment by UH to innovation, collaboration, and resilience; to the personal and educational enrichment of its faculty, staff, and students; and to the passion for the College’s role in ensuring the success of every member of its community.
The University of Houston
Founded in 1927 and currently led by President Renu Khator, the University of Houston is the largest public research university in Houston and one of the largest universities in Texas offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs. Located in Houston’s historic Third Ward and dedicated to serving as an impactful partner within its community, UH is the oldest of the three UH System universities, home to a chapter of the prestigious national honor society Phi Beta Kappa, and recognized as an R1 institution by the Carnegie Foundation for its very high level of research activity. With a University footprint that encompasses its main campus in Houston and significant and growing instructional sites in Katy and Sugar Land that further UH’s learning, research, and community engagement priorities, the University is home to more than 3,700 tenured, tenure-track, instructional, clinical, and research faculty. Distinguished faculty members include Guggenheim Fellows, MacArthur Fellows, a Pulitzer Prize winner, Tony and Grammy Award winners, and 22 members of the National Academies of Science and Engineering. As a complement to its traditional academic offerings, UH’s institutional presence also extends well beyond its campuses and into its students’ communities through thriving extended education and online programs.
UH is federally designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving (AANAPISI) institution, reflecting the composition and diversity of the student body the University is committed to educating and supporting. In Fall 2025, UH enrolled approximately 49,000 students in more than 280 undergraduate and graduate programs, with approximately 8,400 students housed in nine residential communities on campus. With more than 500 registered student organizations and 17 NCAA Division 1 intercollegiate sports teams, campus life at UH is vibrant and engaging. UH’s student body is one of the most diverse in the country and international in composition, enrolling students from more than 130 nations. Students choose from 116 bachelor’s programs and 160 graduate and professional programs housed in 15 academic colleges and schools and an interdisciplinary Honors College. UH’s programs are nationally recognized, including 17 ranked among the top 50 in the country.
With more than $276 million in research expenditures in FY 2025, UH’s research enterprise includes eleven national research centers, over 25 university research centers and institutes, and the Presidential Frontier Faculty program to hire 100 university-wide integrated interdisciplinary faculty. As an institution that ranks amongst the top 100 global universities for patents, UH fosters a research environment that enables scholars to explore emerging areas and work more effectively with industry, other research organizations, and the community. An academically diverse university, UH is creating powerful hubs of creativity where teams of researchers from a wide range of disciplines collaborate across traditional boundaries to bring research knowledge to bear on issues of intellectual, scientific, social, economic, environmental and cultural importance.
The University is focused on doubling research expenditures by increasing NSF-reported research expenditures to $400 million annually over the next five years. New faculty will join a university with a growing number of nationally funded research centers and an aggressive agenda to leverage science to make a transformative impact locally, nationally, and across the globe. The Dean of the Hines College will have meaningful opportunities to engage UH’s broader research enterprise across disciplines including energy, health, and technology. UH’s proximity to the Texas Medical Center and energy sector, and its growing portfolio of interdisciplinary research centers position the Hines College to participate in cross-campus collaborations of real consequence. The incoming Dean will also have the opportunity to make a significant number of new faculty appointments, providing the rare ability to recruit strategically, shape the College’s intellectual direction, and build a shared vision from the ground up.
Exemplifying its commitment to improving the lives of those it serves, UH awards more than 11,000 degrees annually and has nearly 307,000 alumni, many of whom live and work in Texas. UH is a member of the Texas Medical Center, whose member institutions strive to advance patient care, research, and education in Houston, and UH is a founding partner of the Houston GPS initiative driven by a coalition of community colleges and universities dedicated to closing equity gaps in student success.
UH Strategic Plan – “Together, We Rise. Together, We Soar.”
UH’s bold plan for the future, “Together, We Rise. Together, We Soar” articulates the University’s vision to build a top 50 public university by pursuing five over-arching goals:
- Goal 1 – Student Success: Provide a top tier, inclusive educational experience to all.
- Goal 2 – Nationally Competitive Research: Build a research powerhouse that impacts our region and the world.
- Goal 3 – Social Responsibility: Serve as an exemplar for equitable and inclusive community engagement.
- Goal 4 – Nationally Relevant Athletics: Build a competitive athletics program.
- Goal 5 – Competitive Funding: Build a sustainable funding base to support vision and goals.
Houston, Texas
Houston is one of the world’s great global cities, the nation’s fourth largest, and home to one of the youngest, fastest growing, and most diverse populations in the country. Nearly one in four residents are foreign born, and more than 145 languages are spoken in the city. Reflective of its position as the Energy Capital of the World and a hub for global trade, Houston is home to 38 of the nation’s 85 publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production firms – including 10 of the top 25. In addition, Houston is at the vanguard of the clean energy revolution and continues to grow with the energy transition. Houston is also home to the Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical complex by several measures: number of hospitals, number of physicians, square footage, and patient volume. Houston is a thriving hub of digital tech talent, with 9,100 tech related firms, including more than 1,000 venture-backed startups, plus an aerospace community that is flourishing because of a close partnership between NASA and private space companies that is transforming the city’s historical connection to space exploration.
With an incredibly rich quality of life, winning sports teams, world-renowned cuisine, one of the largest collections of top-rated museums and cultural activities in the nation, and a low cost of living in addition to no state income tax—Houston is truly a great place to call home. For a Dean of Architecture and Design, Houston offers something more: it is one of the most consequential built-environment laboratories in the world, a city of extraordinary demographic complexity, no traditional zoning, and major ongoing investment in energy transition, health infrastructure, and urban development, offering the Hines College and its next Dean a uniquely compelling platform for research, practice, and community engagement.
Application/Nomination Process
The Search Committee invites letters of nomination and applications (letter of interest, full resume/CV, and contact information of at least five references) to be submitted to the search firm assisting UH. Review of materials will begin immediately and continue until an appointment is made. It is preferred, however, that all nominations and applications are submitted before September 8, 2026. Please submit electronic applications directly to Parker Executive Search. For additional information, please contact:
Porsha Williams, Vice President
Jacob Anderson, Principal
Julia Butler-Mayes, Ph.D., Associate
Parker Executive Search
Five Concourse Parkway, Suite 2875
Atlanta, GA 30328
770-804-1996 ext. 102; 109; 111
pwilliams@parkersearch.com | janderson@parkersearch.com | jbutler-mayes@parkersearch.com
The University of Houston is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.
Minorities, women, veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
The University of Houston is responsive to the needs of dual career couples.
