The University of Kansas has announced Mahbub Rashid as the new dean of their School of Architecture & Design. Rashid has been serving as interim dean of the school since 2019, and will now oversee the school’s 1,000 students and 60 faculty and staff. The post was previously held by Mahesh Daas, who in 2019 co-wrote and edited a book on the future of robotic architecture.

Rashid has been a member of the University of Kansas’ faculty for seventeen years, serving in a variety of roles including associate dean of research and graduate studies. His work sits at the intersection of history and theory, environmental behavior, and psychology, with an overall goal of exploring the social, cultural, cognitive, and aesthetic functions of buildings and cities.

“I am most grateful for the opportunity to become the dean of KU’s School of Architecture & Design. It is a dream come true,” Rashid said upon his appointment as dean. “To be appointed as the dean after holding that position for three years as an interim validates the work we have been doing at the school.”

“Inspired by the Jayhawks Rising Strategic Plan, we promote a culture of academic excellence and diversity, where differences are respected, ideas are shared, and people are connected and empowered,” Rashid continued. “Taking advantage of our rich history and tradition in design thinking and our geographical locus, we aspire to become KU’s design innovation hub connecting communities, places and technologies locally and globally to solve the pressing problems of humanity.”

News of the appointment comes weeks after one of the school’s graduates, Madeline Bradley, was selected for HOK’s class of Diversity x Design Scholarships. Last year, meanwhile, a cohort of students from the school retrofitted twelve shipping containers to serve as private housing for homeless people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also in 2021, the university named Hui Cai as chair of the Department of Architecture.