Dear colleagues,
Scott Poole, dean of the College of Architecture and Design for the past nine years, has informed me of his decision to step down and return to teaching in June 2021.
Scott’s 35-year career of teaching, professional practice, service, and leadership includes many accomplishments and accolades. In 2016 he was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. In 2012 and 2014, he was included by DesignIntelligence on their list of America’s 25 Most Admired Educators. He received the Presidential Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Architects Tennessee in 2019, one of his many teaching and service awards.
As an academic leader, Scott developed innovative strategies to advance meaningful collaborations between design education and practice, set the context for multiple nationally and internationally recognized experiential learning projects, hired and mentored award-winning educators, and engaged the collective capabilities of faculty to create inspiring environments for design education.
Scott led the development of a vibrant creative culture in the college by attracting top talent, establishing 21st-century facilities for design and fabrication, and engaging formidable partners in meaningful collaborations. Under Scott’s leadership the student population in the college has nearly doubled.
His many accomplishments in the past decade include working with alumni to raise more than $4 million for scholarships and professorships; allowing the college to attract exceptional students and retain outstanding teachers; supporting state-of-the-art improvements in the Art and Architecture Building and inaugurating a new facility for advanced fabrication—the Fab Lab—in downtown Knoxville; the college’s collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to create AMIE, an internationally acclaimed 3D-printed building that autonomously transfers energy between a vehicle and a home; and working with TVA, the National Park Service, and other prominent partners and communities throughout the region to establish the Tennessee RiverLine, a multigenerational project that will have a direct and lasting impact on the people and places served by UT as a land-grant institution.
Please join me in thanking Scott for his service to the college and university.
A search committee will be formed soon followed by a national search for a new dean. Once the fall semester is under way, I will consult with the faculty in the college to plan the search for a new dean.
John Zomchick
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor