New Dean Appointed to Lead DAAP

Kristi A. Nelson, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Cincinnati, today announced the appointment of Timothy Jachna, PhD, as Dean of the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP). Jachna’s appointment becomes effective Sept. 15, pending approval of the university’s Board of Trustees. 

“Timothy Jachna is an educator, architect and urbanist,” Nelson said. “His global background in professional practice and academia will serve to advance the artistic and real-world learning mission of UC’s world-renowned College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. Tim’s work as an urbanist is central to the University of Cincinnati’s strategic direction, and I am confident his next-minded vision will provide transformational opportunities for students and the college.” 

Jachna is currently professor and associate dean (research) of Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Design, which he has developed from a provincial institution to one of the highest-ranked design schools in the world. He also leads the school’s Urban Environments Lab and the Master of Design program in Urban Environments Design. Jachna has an impressive and varied career including experience in both professional practice and academia. He has worked as a researcher, planner, project manager, architect and design director for architectural firms in Chicago and Germany as well as leader of an architectural model-building studio in Austria. 

Jachna earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1988, an AA diploma (master’s degree equivalent) from the Architectural Association in London in 1993 and a PhD from the Spatial Information Architecture Lab of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia in 2008. His research deals with psycho-sociological aspects of the planning, design, construction, inhabitation and critique of urban environments. 

“The creative professions occupy a pivotal vantage from which to address the big issues of the 21st century, and it is a rare institution that gathers as broad a range of these disciplines under one roof as DAAP,” Jachna said. “I feel very privileged to have been entrusted with the leadership of the college and look forward to working with the talented and dedicated people who make up the DAAP team, to continue to pursue excellence in the established disciplines and programs while also nurturing new discussions and initiatives that will delineate the future constitution of the creative professions and their role in society.” 

“It will be a central tenet of my service to the college and the university to define and implement cross-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary initiatives in curriculum and research, both within the college and between DAAP and other colleges, institutions and partners, in which DAAP is uniquely positioned to take a leadership role,” he added.   

About DAAP:

The University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning is a comprehensive research and design institution offering undergraduate majors in Architecture, Art History, Communication Design, Fashion Design, Fine Arts, Horticulture, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Urban Planning and Urban Studies. Graduate degrees are offered in Architecture, Art History, Community Planning, Design, Fine Arts, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning. A number of certificates and minors are also offered. 

These programs are consistently ranked among the very best in both a world and national class. DAAP has as its primary mission the creation of a better visual and design environment. Through excellence in educational programs, research, creative works and service to the community, faculty, staff, students and administrative officers of DAAP are dedicated to achieve this mission.