Monica Ponce de Leon has been appointed as the next dean of Princeton University School of Architecture, effective January 1, 2016. Since 2008, Ponce de Leon has served as dean of the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor  where she is heavily involved in The Digital Fabrication Lab, aka FABLab. In her educational approach, Ponce de Leon is a leading figure in applying robotic technology in building fabrication and is a proponent in strengthening studio as the central and all-pervasive educational device.

Before Taubman, she served as a professor for 12 years at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design as well as Director of the Digital Lab. She co-founded the firm Office dA in 1991 and then began her own design practice, MPdL Studio, in 2011.

Throughout her career, Ponce de Leon has received several awards including the prestigious National Design Award in Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Museum; the Academic Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the Architectural League of New York's Young Architects and Emerging Voices award; and numerous AIA awards and citations.

For more about Ponce de Leon, read Archinect Dean's List feature on Monica Ponce de Leon.