The search committee for a new dean of the architecture school is expected to submit a recommendation to President Tilghman within the next month, committee members said this week.
They declined to comment on specific candidates to replace Ralph Lerner, who announced his resignation in the fall.
The New York Times has reported three possible contenders — Charles Gwathmey, Sylvia Lavin and Mario Gandelsonas.
Gwathmey, who redesigned Whig Hall and worked on McDonnell Hall, is a New York-based architect. Lavin is the chair of the architecture program at the University of California at Los Angeles. Gandelsonas is the acting dean of Princeton's architecture school.
The committee — chaired by architecture professor Robert Hillier '59 — began meeting in small discussion groups in the fall, said Ann Halliday, secretary of the committee.
Committee members met with faculty, graduate and undergraduate students and alumni with connections to the architecture school and with members of other departments and programs within the University, she said.
Though not a member of the committee, art and archaeology professor John Pinto, who teaches a class on the history of architecture, said other opinions are important.
"The relationship between art and archaeology and architecture is important and natural," he said.
The committee interviewed individuals as prospective candidates and to gain more information for subsequent discussions, Halliday said.
"Members of the committee are acutely aware of some of the unique aspects of the school," Halliday said, citing the undergraduate and doctoral programs in addition to the traditional professional or master's level degree at other universities.
The committee is actively seeking someone who would take advantage of the resources and further interdisciplinary programs initiated in the last several years, she said.
Lerner, who was on academic leave this year, has led the school since 1989.
In a complaint filed in the N.J. Superior Court last March, Karen Bates, a graduate student in the school, accused architecture professor Georges Teyssot of sexual harassment. The complaint also cited Lerner, Associate Dean of the Faculty Katherine Rohrer and the University for failing to take steps to prevent harassment.
In addition to the architecture school, the Wilson, engineering and graduate schools are also searching for new deans. All have indicated they will complete their searches by the end of the academic year.
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