The Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) has named architect and academic Rahul Mehrotra as the new Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the school. 

Mehrotra is also being named to the position of John T. Dunlop Professor in Housing and Urbanization. Mehrotra joined GSD as a faculty member back in 2010 and served until 2015 in the same position he is being elevated to once again. At that point, Mehrotra shifted to become the Director of the Master of Architecture in Urban Design Degree Program and Co-Director of the Master of Landscape Architecture program. NBBJ principal architect and academic Alex Krieger is currently serving as the Interim Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design; He took over the position from Diane Davis in 2017.

Mehrotra is the founder and principal of RMA Architects, a Boston and Mumbai-based firm that works cross a variety of project types, including speculative work. The practice helped craft a conservation plan for the Taj Mahal with the Taj Mahal Conservation Collaborative in 2001. 

Mehrotra studied architecture at the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad, where his practice recently completed work on a new library facility. He also earned an M.Arch degree from Harvard's GSD. Previously, Mehrotra has taught at the University of Michigan and at the School of Architecutre and Urban Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.