Bruce Lindsey named dean of Architecture in Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

Bruce Lindsey, the Paul Rudolph Professor of Architecture at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., has been named dean of the College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, both part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

Bruce Lindsey
Bruce Lindsey

The appointment — effective Nov. 10 — was announced today by Carmon Colangelo, dean of the Sam Fox School as well as the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Community Collaboration in the Arts.

Lindsey served as head of Auburn’s School of Architecture from 2001-06, during which time he helped unite the school’s five degree programs — comprising 600 students and 40 faculty — through a series of interdisciplinary and joint-degree offerings. In addition, Lindsey chaired Auburn’s Masters of Landscape Architecture Program from 2001-03 and served as co-director of the architecture program’s Rural Studio since 2002.

“Bruce is an experienced academic leader and an excellent fit for the College of Architecture and the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design,” Colangelo said. “He has fresh ideas, exemplary qualifications and a keen interest in addressing creative, social and environmental issues through interdisciplinary study and practice. I am very pleased that Bruce will be joining us, and I look forward to working with him.”

Lindsey’s appointment follows from the work of an advisory committee chaired by William A. Peck, M.D., the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor and former executive vice chancellor and dean of the School of Medicine, who now directs the university’s Center for Health Policy.

Lindsey succeeds Jerome J. Sincoff, FAIA, former president and CEO of Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum Inc. as well as former chair of Washington University’s Architecture National Council. Sincoff has served as dean of Architecture since Cynthia Weese, FAIA, returned to private practice in July 2005.

“I am extremely grateful to Bill Peck for heading the search committee, and to Jerry Sincoff for his leadership and vision over the past year while he served as dean,” said Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. “Jerry’s tenure as dean has been marked by several critical new initiatives, particularly in the areas of technology and sustainable design. I am confident that Bruce, who also brings a wealth of experience to these areas, will continue and expand on that momentum.”

A native of Idaho, Lindsey received a bachelor’s degree in art in 1976 and a master’s degree in sculpture and photography in 1979, both from the University of Utah. He earned a master’s degree in architecture from Yale University in 1986 and the following year joined the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University. From 1994-2001 he served as associate head of Carnegie Mellon’s School of Architecture and as associate professor of art and architecture. He is married to the artist Marilee Keys.

Lindsey’s research has long focused on applying digital tools to design and construction practice. In 1992 his work in digital-aided manufacturing was cited by Engineering News Record as one of the year’s 10 most significant contributions to the construction industry. His book Digital Gehry: Material Resistance Digital Construction (2001), which explores the use of technology in the design process of architect Frank Gehry, has been translated into Italian and Chinese.

Pittsburgh Glass Center
Lindsey’s LEED gold rated Pittsburgh Glass Center, designed with Davis + Gannon Architects

A practicing architect, Lindsey recently worked with Davis + Gannon Architects to design the Pittsburgh Glass Center, which earned a gold rating under the U.S. Green Buildings Council’s Leadership in Environmental & Energy Design, or LEED, guidelines. The project also received a Design Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and was chosen as one of 2005’s top 10 green buildings by the AIA’s Committee on the Environment.

“Our impact on the environment is a key question for architecture and environmental design,” Lindsey noted. “It is not just a question of sustainability. It is a question of ethics and beauty, those things that not only sustain life, but also make it worthwhile.

“I look forward to working with the chancellor and the university on its ongoing sustainability efforts,” Lindsey added, “and to working with Carmon Colangelo, the faculty and particularly the students, who literally have the future in their hands.

“They are a renewable energy source.”

As a teacher and administrator, Lindsey has made significant contributions to beginning design education. In 1992 he received the New Faculty Teaching Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture for his work developing the first-year program at Carnegie Mellon. In 1997 he co-chaired “Not Only But Also,” the 14th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student in Pittsburgh. In 2005 he received the AIA’s National Teaching Honor Award for his work in beginning design at Auburn.

Lindsey has been a visiting professor at Arizona State University and at Catholic University, and was the Pierce Visiting Critic at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Other honors include a 1993 Young Architects Award from Progressive Architecture and a 2002 AIA Design Merit Award for his extensive renovation, with EDGE Architecture, of the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, one of the nation’s oldest and most influential craft institutions.