Georgia Tech has selected Alan Balfour as dean of the College of Architecture, filling the position left by the late Thomas D. Galloway, who died suddenly in March 2007. Balfour joins the Institute July 1.

Most recently dean of the School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, N.Y., Balfour was previously the director of the Architecture Program at Georgia Tech from 1977 to 1987. In 13 years at RPI, Balfour oversaw the growth of the Lighting Research Center, began a cross‐disciplinary program with Shanghai’s Tongji University, established a doctoral degree in architectural sciences and helped spearhead the building of an Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center.

Professor Douglas C. Allen has served as interim dean for the past year. “I have known Alan as a colleague and friend for 30 years, and have long held a deep admiration for his commitment to higher education in design, in architecture, in construction, planning and the arts,” he said. “He has both a broad vision for the role of our disciplines in the construction of sustainable futures as well as deep administrative experience both at Georgia Tech and at significant peer institutions. I look forward to his arrival and to a bright and exciting future building upon the strengths within the College and the Institute.”

Provost Gary Schuster also cited Balfour’s ability to take the College to the next level. “We have high expectations for the College of Architecture over the next five years. Doug Allen, while serving as interim dean, has furthered Tom’s vision and focused on momentum and stability during the interim period. I am grateful for Doug’s strength in leading the College this past year and anticipate that Alan and Doug will form an especially effective team, working together to realize the aspirations Georgia Tech has set for the College of Architecture.”

During his presentation to the faculty in April, Balfour discussed his vision, stressing collaboration between the disciplines — music, industrial design, building construction, architecture and city planning — both within and outside the college. “The world city of the future is of enormous concern to me,” Balfour said. “This College has within its culture all the major fields of knowledge that can be applied to this problem.” Utilizing partnerships within the College, Balfour said the Institute and practitioners in the disciplines will help Tech’s graduates be ready for any challenge, whether local or global.

“Graduates must have complete mastery of the tools of digital technology, they must be empowered to predict the impact of their designs — at the social level as well as the energy and resource level — and they must view their knowledge, creativity and skill as being relevant to global as well as local practice.”

Among his administrative roles, Balfour has served as chairman of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and dean of the School of Architecture at Rice University in Houston.

Balfour received his education at the Edinburgh College of Art and Princeton University, and is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. In 2000 he received the American Institute of Architects/Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (AIA/ACSA) Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education, the highest recognition given to a North American architecture educator. His World Cities series of books seeks to explore architecture and urbanism of cities around the world, including “Shanghai” (2002), “New York” (2001) and “Berlin” (1995), and in his “Creating a Scottish Parliament” (2005), Balfour links the building’s creation with the political structure for which it was constructed. For both “Berlin” and “Berlin: The Politics of Order: 1737–1989” (1990) he received AIA International Book Awards.

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