Effective July 1, 2024, Rice Architecture Professor and Director of Graduate Studies Dawn Finley, ’99, will become the next dean and McWhorter Chair at the Auburn University College of Architecture, Design, and Construction. View the public announcement from Auburn University.
An esteemed alumna of the Rice University School of Architecture—earning her master of architecture degree in 1999—and a former Wortham Fellow, Finley has been an integral part of Rice’s academic community for many years. As director of graduate studies since 2018, she led many important curricular initiatives that have shaped the trajectory of our graduate program, including the development of a new studio sequence in collaboration with Associate Professor Reto Geiser, Director of Undergraduate Studies. She has also devoted immense energy and intellect to graduate student experience, championing new recruitment approaches and the expansion of our inclusion efforts.
Finley’s research projects include PLIABLE—a study of textile techniques in architecture—and BODY-PLUS, addressing design and disability. Finley is also widely recognized for the design work of her Houston-based practice, Interloop—Architecture, which she cofounded with Professor in the Practice Mark Wamble, who will also join the Auburn University faculty. Their projects are acclaimed for innovative building technologies, inventive forms, and precise material finishes. System of Novelties, a volume celebrating their work, was recently published in the Architecture at Rice series.
“While we will miss Dawn dearly, we believe that her hire also reflects well on our school and the success of our alumni, many of whom have achieved leadership positions in academia and practice worldwide,” said Igor Marjanović, William Ward Watkin Dean of Rice Architecture. “I congratulate Dawn, thank her for her long-standing service to our school, and wish her all the best in her new endeavor.”