London’s Architectural Association (AA) has named a new leader in its search to replace ousted former director Eva Franch i Gilabert.

Dr. Ingrid Schroder is the new head of the AA beating out Berkeley CED professor emerita Jill Stoner, Clancy Moore director Andrew Clancy, and two other shortlisted candidates to helm the 175-year-old institution. Schroder will remain in her current role as director of the University of Cambridge’s M.Phil in Architecture and Urban Design (MAUD) program until officially stepping into the AA post in late August.

Schroder comes to the position with over 20 years of experience teaching at Cambridge. She held several titles (Supervisor, Lecturer, Studio Master, Professional Practice Coordinator, Academic Exchange Coordinator, and Research Group Coordinator) outside of the MAUD program, which she helped establish in 2012, and has spent time at several other academic institutions, including the ETH Zurich, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Royal College of Art, EPFL Lausanne, Central St Martins, and CEPT Islamabad.

Schroder’s 2014 title African Modernism is indicative of her broader research interests in the architecture of independence movements, which is coupled with a dual interest in new approaches to pedagogy that AA president Victoria Thornton said offers a “compelling perspective on the future of architectural education and practice.”

Schroder called the AA “a nimble place of debate” and said it “is a unique environment in which to wrestle with the implications of what lies ahead.” 

“Architecture and architectural education produce the extraordinary places, spaces and settings, that frame our everyday – both real and speculative,” she added finally. “It is a unique and varied language and a complex discipline. It is a great privilege to be in a position to help tune the AA’s voice within this conversation and to facilitate the collective endeavours that can provoke a better understanding and considered architectural approaches to the near and distant future.”