Another senior faculty member leaving UVa

By Brian McNeill

Published: May 14, 2008

One of the University of Virginia’s most influential faculty members is leaving UVa to take a top job at Tulane University — marking the university’s second high-profile faculty departure in less than a week.

Kenneth Schwartz, an architecture and planning professor at UVa since 1984, will become dean of Tulane’s School of Architecture on July 1.

Last Thursday, Dr. Cato Laurencin, a nationally renowned medical and engineering researcher, announced that he was exiting UVa after five years to lead the University of Connecticut’s Medical Center.

Schwartz, an award-winning architect and urban designer, was the first faculty member to serve on committees of UVa’s Board of Visitors. He was the immediate past chairman of UVa’s Faculty Senate.

In his new position at Tulane, Schwartz will seek to expand that university’s architecture department’s efforts to rebuild New Orleans.

“It’s an important moment for New Orleans,” he said. “It’s a chance to strengthen the relationship between the School of Architecture and the community.”

Schwartz’s wife, Judith Kinnard, also an architecture professor at UVa and former department chairwoman, will be joining Tulane’s faculty as well.

The decision to leave UVa after 24 years was not an easy one for Schwartz and his wife, he said. “In many ways, it was a tough choice,” he said. “It’s home. UVa has been a great place for me and for my wife.”

Yet the chance to lead an architecture school in the midst of a massive rebuilding effort proved too alluring, he said.

“I’ll miss Charlottesville and I’ll miss the University of Virginia,” said Schwartz, who has tenure at UVa. “But it was an exciting chance to build something new on top of something that was already strong.”

Ricardo Padrón, a UVa professor of Spanish and chairman of the Faculty Senate, said Schwartz understood the importance of speaking up on behalf of the faculty, while maintaining a constructive and collaborative approach to the faculty’s role in UVa’s governance.

“His tenure as chair set a very high bar for his successors in the job,” Padrón said. “Although I wish him well in his new job at Tulane, I think his departure represents a serious loss for UVa, and I will miss him.”

In 2003, Schwartz was awarded the UVa Alumni Association’s Distinguished Professor Award, the university’s highest teaching honor.

In addition to his leadership roles within UVa, Schwartz was also a key civic leader. He served on Charlottesville’s Planning Commission and Design Review Board, as well as represented the city on the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission.

In 2001, Schwartz opened and ran the urban design office of Renaissance Planning Group. During his tenure at the firm’s helm, Schwartz focused on community design and the integration of land-use with transportation strategies.

Five years ago, he led the team that produced the Crozet Master Plan for Albemarle County.

In 2005, he and his wife opened the office of CP+D — Community Planning and Design LLC, a firm that specializes in public sector planning projects.

Schwartz also serves on the state board that grants licenses to architects in Virginia.

Tulane President Scott Cowen listed Schwartz’s history of leadership at UVa and within the Charlottesville community as key factors in his appointment.

“Our national search for a new School of Architecture dean has ended in resounding success,” he said in a statement.