The University of California, Berkeley, has named Vishaan Chakrabarti dean of its College of Environmental Design (CED). The founder of New York–based Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) will continue to lead the firm during his deanship.

Chakrabarti is a 1996 graduate of CED’s architecture program and member of the college’s Dean’s Advisory Council. He holds a Masters of Architecture from UC Berkeley and a Masters of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as dual bachelor’s degrees in art history and engineering from Cornell University. An AIA Fellow and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Chakrabarti has also been a professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP) since 2009, where he is currently an associate professor of professional practice. There, he has directed projects including a public-private partnership to redevelop Penn Station, and the adaptive reuse of Domino Sugar Refinery and Park, both in New York City. He also served as director of the Manhattan office of New York City’s Department of City Planning from 2002–2005 during the rebuilding that followed 9/11.

In this new role, Chakrabarti will succeed Jennifer Wolch, who stepped down at the end of the spring 2019 term after 10 years at the helm of the CED. Professor Renee Chow, chair of Berkeley’s architecture department, will serve as acting dean beginning July 1, 2019, until Chakrabarti begins on July 1, 2020.