Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 28, 2003|Volume 31, Number 20

Robert A.M. Stern

Stern reappointed as School of Architecture dean

President Richard C. Levin has announced the reappointment of Robert A.M. Stern for a second term of five years as dean of the School of Architecture.

During his five-year tenure, Stern has brought major changes to the school -- from initiating the interior renovation of the landmark building in which it is housed, to attracting many of the world's most acclaimed architects to its classrooms, lecture halls and studios.

In announcing the reappointment, Levin said that his colleagues at the School of Architecture were of "the unanimous view that Dean Stern has raised the school's profile, infused it with energy, and restored its ability to attract the very best students."

Levin cited Stern's "presence, his availability, and his commitment to stimulate thinking about architecture," adding, "Through an ambitious program of lectures, conferences and social occasions, he has built a renewed sense of community."

Stern, who also holds the title of J.M. Hoppin Professor of Architecture, has a distinguished academic record. Before coming to Yale, he was professor and director of the Historical Preservation Department of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, and was the first director of Columbia's Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture. He has lectured widely about a range of topics related to architecture and urbanism.

Stern is a prolific writer and critic whose opinions about the built environment have been widely quoted in the media. Among the books he has published are "New Directions in American Architecture," "George Howe: Toward a Modern American Architecture" and "Modern Classicism."

He has participated in a number of documentary television programs, most notably serving as the host of the eight-part documentary "Pride of Place: Building the American Dream," which aired on PBS in 1986.

Stern is perhaps the leading authority on the architecture and architectural history of New York, the city where he was born and still lives. He has co-authored a number of books focusing on particular periods of New York's history -- 1880, 1900, 1930 and 1960 -- and his testimony is seen throughout filmmaker Ric Burns' epic documentary on New York.

Stern also maintains an active practice in the New York firm of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, which he founded and where he is a senior partner. His projects range from the residential to corporate, from the institutional to commercial. A small sample of the celebrated buildings he has designed include the Health Center of Celebration, Florida; the Headquarters of Mexx International, in Voorschoten, Netherlands; the Casting Building of the Walt Disney Company in Orlando, Florida; and the Spangler Campus Center at Harvard Business School.

Stern is a champion of the traditional and vernacular in architectural design and a strong advocate for considering any structure within its environmental, urban and historical context. He has won a number of commissions for institutions celebrating icons of American culture. These include the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts; the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History in Jamestown, New York; the visitors' center at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut now under construction; and most recently, The Center for the American Revolution at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Two faculty elected to National Academy of Engineering

Stern reappointed as School of Architecture dean

New website showcases Yale's global initiatives

Unions declare intent to strike

Thompson cited for work on African and Afro-American art

'Father of fractals' discusses 'essential' role of math in life

Noted historian Garry Wills will deliver the Tanner Lectures

Event to explore how lawyers can use media to tell their clients' stories

Campus event draws New Haven schoolchildren who 'THINK BIG'

One of the recording industry's youngest executives . . .

Study reveals consumers want more data from weight-loss programs

Parents show no risk of heart attack when witnessing children's surgeries

Bright Beginnings receives grant in support of its work . . .

Campus Notes

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