Grace La has been announced as the new Chair of the Department of Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. A professor of architecture at the school and principal of LA DALLMAN, La will become the second women to be named as Chair of the Department of Architecture when her appointment takes effect on July 1st, 2023.

“I am honored by the GSD’s trust and look forward to collaboration on the next chapter of this esteemed department,” La said in a statement. “As a highly negotiated art form, architecture remains at the vital intersection of culture and space. The discipline is also experiencing transformations in pedagogy, with opportunities to advance environmental expertise, social engagement, and artistry. I am thrilled to work on this shared project and on the continued mission to harness the immense intellect, imagination, and energy of the GSD’s creative community.”

Having co-founded LA DALLMAN with James Dallman in 1999, La has built a portfolio that “expands the architect’s agency in the civic recalibration of infrastructure and public space.” Notable projects from the firm include the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the National Building Museum in Washington DC, and the New Museum in New York City.

La’s extensive academic background includes serving as the inaugural Chair of the Practice Platform (2014-2022) and Director of the GSD’s Master of Architecture degree programs (2014-17). La’s teaching at the GSD has included core design studios in housing and building integration, as well as option studios on bridges and auditoria, co-taught with James Dallman.

Before joining the GSD as a professor of architecture in 2013, La served on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Syracuse University. La is herself a graduate of Harvard College, having earned her MArch from the GSD with thesis distinction, winning the Clifford Wong Housing Prize.

“I am very excited about Grace’s appointment,” said Sarah M. Whiting, Dean and Josep Lluís Sert Professor of Architecture in a statement. “Her commitment to the core curriculum and focus on practice as a fundamental pillar of architectural education is at once timely and timeless for the School’s pedagogy. And as we welcome Grace into her new role, I am also deeply grateful to Mark Lee for his steady leadership of the department these past five years.”

La's appointment is one of many recently covered in our editorial. Last December, we reported on Heather Flood’s appointment as dean of Woodbury’s School of Architecture, while in November, Cornell AAP reappointed J. Meejin Yoon for a second term as dean.

Meanwhile, UT Austin’s School of Architecture Dean Michelle Addington announced her departure from the position in September, followed in December by Christine Theodoropoulos, who announced her retirement as Cal Poly’s architecture and environmental design dean.