Appointment of Brett Steele as Dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture

UCLA Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost

To: Administrative Officers, Deans, Department Chairs, Directors, Faculty and Staff in the School of the Arts and Architecture, Vice Chancellors and Vice Provosts

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Brett Steele as dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, effective August 15, 2017.

Professor Steele has served as director of the Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture in London since 2005. The academic leader and chief executive of the school, he also oversees the school’s two subsidiary companies: AA Publications and the Hooke Park Educational Trust. In January 2008, Professor Steele launched the AA Visiting School, which enrolls visiting students in short courses and design workshops held in more than 50 cities and territories across five continents. In 1996, he co-founded the AA Design Research Lab, an innovative team-based master of architecture program, which he directed for eight years. Prior to his tenure at the AA School of Architecture, he was a project architect at Zaha Hadid Architects and desArchLab in London.   

Professor Steele is an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. His scholarly interests focus on architecture and art education and culture. He frequently lectures at universities, cultural centers and offices worldwide on architecture, design and the arts within larger public, political and professional fields. Professor Steele is the founder and series editor of “Architecture Words,” which has published the writings of many of the world’s leading architects, designers and scholars. He is the author of more than 200 publications and the editor of six books, including “Supercritical: Peter Eisenman & Rem Koolhaas,” “First Works: Emerging Architectural Experimentation of the 1960s and 1970s,” and “O-14: Projection and Reception.” Professor Steele received his diploma in architecture from the Architectural Association School of Architecture.   

I want to thank search/advisory committee members for assembling an outstanding pool of candidates and for their roles in recruiting Brett. Patricia A. Turner – dean and vice provost for undergraduate education; professor, Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance; professor, Department of African American Studies – was chair of the committee. Other members were:

• Dana Cuff – professor, Department of Architecture and Urban Design; director, cityLAB-UCLA
• Kristy Edmunds – executive and artistic director, Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA
• Andrea Fraser – professor, Department of Art
• David H. Gere – professor, Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance; director, UCLA Art and Global Health Center
• Ioanna Kakoulli – professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering; professor and chair, Conservation of Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials Interdepartmental Program
• Peter Lunenfeld – professor, Department of Design Media Arts
• Victoria Marks – professor, Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance; chair, Disability Studies Minor
• Rebeca Méndez – professor, Department of Design Media Arts
• Cindy Miscikowski – member, Arts and Architecture Board of Visitors
• Steven Nelson – professor, Department of Art History; director, UCLA African Studies Center
• Chon A. Noriega – professor, Department of Film, Television and Digital Media; director, UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
• Catherine Opie – professor, Department of Art
• Heather Roberge – associate professor and interim vice chair, Department of Architecture and Urban Design

Chancellor Block and I are confident that Brett will provide outstanding leadership as dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. Please join me in congratulating him and welcoming him to UCLA.

Sincerely,

Scott L. Waugh

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost