After conducting a search outside the university to fill the position, UC Berkeley has appointed Tom J. Buresh, Emil Lorch Collegiate Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, as chair of the College of Environmental Design’s Department of Architecture. His four-year term began on July 1.
Buresh is an active architect with extensive teaching and academic administration experience. He is a principal in the firm Guthrie + Buresh Architects, and previously served as senior project designer for Frank O. Gehry and Associates.
The CED’s previous chair of architecture, Prof. Mary Comerio, went on sabbatical in spring 2009 and Prof. Gail Brager has been acting as interim chair until now. The CED is made up of four three departments — Architecture, City and Regional Planning, and Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning (Urban Design is a joint degree program with the three departments) — each of which has its respective chair.
“Tom is one of the country’s premier educators in the field of architecture and design. He arrives to lead the Department of Architecture at a time when rethinking how we design buildings, neighborhoods and cities has never been more critical for people and the environment,” said Jennifer Wolch, dean and William W. Wurster Professor of City and Regional Planning to whom Prof. Buresh will report.
Buresh’s partner, Danelle Guthrie, a principal at Guthrie + Buresh Architects, will also join UCB’s Department of Architecture as a visiting associate professor.
