Architecture School Dean Elected Fellow of the American Institute of Architects

February 7, 2011 — Kim Tanzer, dean of the University of Virginia School of Architecture and Edward E. Elson Professor of Architecture, has been elected to the prestigious College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, the national professional association of architects. The honor is awarded to members who have made significant contributions to architecture and society and who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession on a national level.

Tanzer was recognized for her leadership in strengthening the study of architecture through her academic research, as a faculty member and faculty leader, and through her service as president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and dean of U.Va.'s Architecture School .

She was also recognized for her service to the American Institute of Architects as education chair of the Miami National Convention in 2010 and as a member of the organization's Education Committee. In addition, she worked to create the National Academy of Environmental Design, an organization that promotes research and collaboration that bridge academia and industry, and served as its first president.

Prior to being named dean in July 2009, Tanzer was a professor of architecture at the University of Florida for more than two decades. She received her bachelor of arts degree from Duke University and her master of architecture from North Carolina State University.

Her teaching and research focus on the relationship between the human body and large shared spaces, such as the city and the landscape, with an emphasis on creating sustainable environments. In her writing, teaching and architectural and urban design, she forges connections between the experience of space and more abstract understandings of the environment developed by architectural professionals.

Tanzer will be honored May 13 at an investiture ceremony at the American Institute of Architects National Convention and Design Exposition in New Orleans.

— By Jane Ford

Media Contact

Jane Ford

U.Va. Media Relations