Heather Woofter, co-director of the St. Louis-based firm Axi:Ome llc, has been promoted to director of the College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, both part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.
Woofter joined the Sam Fox School as an assistant professor in 2005; has chaired the graduate architecture program since 2010; and became a full professor in 2015. Her appointment begins July 1.
She will succeed Bruce Lindsey, the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Community Collaboration and current president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). Lindsey has led architecture for the past 10 years, and will join the faculty after a yearlong sabbatical.
“Bruce leaves a significant legacy,” said Carmon Colangelo, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School. “His vision and energetic leadership have helped to shape the Sam Fox School, promoting interdisciplinary connections across campus and contributing to the national discourse in architecture education.
“Heather is an internationally distinguished architect and design educator whose career embodies the close ties between academic research and studio practice,” Colangelo added. “I am proud to announce her appointment and look forward to working closely with her as we embark on a new era in the life of the school.”
2 Comments
Heather won't be a good leader for Samfox School. She has limited experience in teaching, most of the graduates in Samfox School hate to choose her studio and she is always the last one on graduates's list. In the past 5 years when Heather chaired the school, Washington University disappeared from the Top 10 architecture school ranking. Some excellent instructors and visiting professors were excluded politically. There is almost no built project by Axi:Ome and they never pay the international students for their hard working there. I don't why this kind of person can be promoted to charge the school?
Agreed, unfortunately. I don't know why this comment was hidden, when it actually speaks honestly to the deep politics latent at WASHU. Yes, all schools have politics to certain extent, but at WASHU they tend to be at the detriment of the student and good professors. There has been a continued exodus of great professors from the school. One positive note, Axi-Ome have built work now and they started to pay their interns. I would argue that is because they don't want to look bad rather than actual ethical concern. They are nice people at the outset, but also have a lot of underlying ethical issues surrounding them. The problem is they don't realize they are the problem. For example: Heather / hiring admin recently allowed a professor who has been reported by various students over the years to return and teach Degree Project...and yet again this past year said teacher was reported to the administration/her by half of his studio. Her complicity led to a very painful experience for those students. Bruce Lindsey at least at student's best interest at heart, while not perfect. I'm warning future students away from WASHU at least for the next couple of years. Students pay too much nowadays to put up with this kind of administrative incompetence.
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