Syracuse Architecture names new undergraduate program chair

Syracuse Architecture names new undergraduate program chairJuly 18, 2007Mary Kate O’Brienmcobrien@syr.edu

Jonathan Massey, associate professor of architecture, has been named Undergraduate Program chair at the Syracuse University School of Architecture. Massey teaches courses in the history and theory of American architecture and urbanism. Since joining the Syracuse Architecture faculty in 2001, Massey has organized the architecture lecture series, chaired departmental and University committees, and worked with colleagues in other academic divisions to establish a new interdisciplinary program in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies. In 2004, he received a Meredith Teaching Recognition Award.

Massey holds bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from Princeton University and a master of architecture degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to joining the SU faculty, Massey worked at Dagmar Richter and Frank O. Gehry & Associates, and taught at Woodbury University, the Parsons School of Design, the Pratt Institute and Barnard College. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies and the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

“Jonathan brings a high level of rigorous scholarship and dedication to students’ academic development to his role as chair,” says Mark Robbins, dean of the School of Architecture. “We look forward to his contributions in the evolution of the undergraduate program and the school.”

“I’m honored to take on this new role,” says Massey, “and committed to developing collaborative partnerships as the school embraces new challenges and opportunities for growth.”

Massey’s research examines the ways architecture mediates power by giving form to civil society, shaping social relationships and regulating consumption. His work also considers the ways architects and clients use sustainable design to negotiate the processes of globalization and liberalization. His published articles have focused on architecture and political reform, ornament and sumptuary regulation, and the design practice of Buckminster Fuller. “Crystal & Arabesque: Claude Bragdon’s Progressive Architecture,” Massey’s forthcoming book from Pittsburgh University Press, will be released in 2008.

The SU School of Architecture, one of the oldest programs in the country, has seen unprecedented growth in its existing B. Arch. and M. Arch. professional degree programs and offers expanded opportunities for interdisciplinary and engaged scholarship. This includes support for sustainability and technological research through partners such as the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems. With the launch of the London program in addition to its long-running Florence program, the school has broadened connections to current practice and discourse worldwide. In 2005, the School of Architecture established UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research and Real Estate to engage innovative design and development practices and to address critical issues of urban revitalization.

For more information, contact Mary Kate O’Brien, communications manager of the School of Architecture, at (315) 443-2388 or mcobrien@syr.edu.