American architect J. Meejin Yoon, founding principal of the Boston-based firm Höweler + Yoon and currently Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture at MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning, has been appointed as the next Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University. 

Yoon will take on her new role on January 1, 2019. Andrew Scott, professor of architecture and urbanism, currently associate head of the department, will serve as interim Head starting August 15.

"Meejin Yoon is an exemplary alumna of Cornell’s architecture program," said Provost Michael Kotlikoff, President of Cornell University. 

"Her time as a student at Cornell was formative, and continues to inform her work as an architect and an academic. She has led key academic initiatives and contributed to the transformation of the department of architecture at MIT, and leads an award-winning design practice. I am pleased to welcome her back to the College of Architecture, Art and Planning and to Cornell."

Yoon is the first woman named to this position since the college was formed in 1896. 

Regarding her position, the Cornel AAP stated that Yoon will lead a college with 51 faculty members and 783 students. It offers undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees, and features academic programs in New York City and Rome. 

Cornell’s undergraduate architecture program is consistently ranked first in the nation. Praising her education and experiences at Cornell, Yoon said she hopes to use her role as dean to contribute back to the university.

"I am deeply indebted to my education at Cornell," Yoon said. "It was an empowering experience. From taking courses in sculpture in the Foundry, to environmental law studies, to architecture studios in Rand, as a student I felt like there were no boundaries and no limits to my education. The faculty who taught me were truly exceptional teachers and enabled students to challenge conventions and expectations around design and the built environment."

She added, "AAP is a rich ecosystem of disciplines across the visual arts, urban planning and architecture, which provide both a broad foundation and deep disciplinary training that continues to be unparalleled."

Yoon’s current research interests include the role of technology in contemporary design culture, the instrumentality of design in the public realm, and the social and environmental responsibility of the built environment.

She has been teaching at MIT since 2001, beginning as an assistant professor in architecture. She was named director of the undergraduate program in architecture in 2010 and became the first female head of the architecture department in 2014. She has had a hand in transforming opportunities around design education at MIT, including the creation of the design minor for students across MIT, the transformation of the Bachelor of Science in art and design major, and the expansion of cross-disciplinary subjects and studios for the graduate program.

Top image ©  Andy Ryan

> via Cornell AAP