Tuskegee University News December 2, 2015 Tuskegee University chooses alumna as new dean of architecture and construction science school Part of Tuskegee University's rich institutional legacy has returned to lead the Robert R. Taylor School of Architecture and Construction Science in the New Millennium. Starting January 5, 2016, the school's new dean will be Dr. Carla Jackson Bell. In addition to her 23 years of professional experience in higher education administration, she is a Tuskegee alumna and the daughter of the late John W. Jackson Jr., who was campus architect from 1963 to 1977. "To date, my family has a total of seven proud Tuskegee graduates that maintain a lifelong devotion to the institution and to the Tuskegee community," Bell said. "I am honored to be a part of leading the school in new, exciting directions." Since 2006, she has served as a faculty member and the director of Multicultural Affairs in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction (CADC) at Auburn University. Her contributions in the CADC have led to an approximately 11 percent increase in the success, retention and graduation rates of students of color. Under Bell's leadership and tutelage, the architecture, landscape architecture, and community planning students at Auburn won first place for three consecutive years - 2013, 2012 and 2011 - in the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) student design competition out of 15 student teams from architecture and design schools from across the country. "My vision will be to bring the Taylor School into the 21st century by implementing best practices to recruit and retain stellar students, integrating multicultural understanding and incorporating cultural learning approaches, and through sheer determination to build positive collegial and alumni collaborations," she said. Author and fundraiser Bell is recognized as one of 12 tenured African American women architecture faculty in the United States and the first to receive a doctoral degree specializing in architecture education. She is also one of two African American women to be named dean of an architecture program and the first to lead a construction science program. Bell is also the author of "Space Unveiled: Invisible Cultures in the Design Studio" (2014), which examines issues of race, culture, gender, and space in design studios and construction seminar courses. Her areas of interest are student support services, architecture and construction curriculum content, academic and retention support programs, and the recruitment of women and other historically under-represented students and faculty. She has received more than $820,000 in research grants and small donations to support diverse initiatives for new learning environments which concentrate on under-represented students' cultural experiences in design and construction programs at Tuskegee and Auburn Universities. A NOMA chair Bell started her education at Tuskegee University, where she earned an undergraduate degree in architectural science. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in interior design from Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) in Georgia and a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary arts and sciences with a specialization in architecture education from Union Institute and University in Vermont. Bell is a recent recipient of the prestigious John and Janet Stone Lectureship for Multicultural Understanding, Equality and Justice and the Minority Achievement Award for recruitment and retention at Auburn University. She currently serves as the chair of the Higher Education Task Force in the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) and was also named to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Diversity Council in 2013. "I am excited to work with the leadership at Tuskegee and create a stronger model to nurture a new generation of culturally responsive architects and builders," she said. "I am deeply honored by the trust President Johnson is placing upon me and look forward to working with students, faculty and staff in writing the next chapter in the school's rich future." SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 Like us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance/ 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.