Michael Young Named Dean of The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture

Dear Cooper Union, 

I have wonderful news to share today. Thanks to the good work of the search committee chaired by professors Diana Agrest and Nora Akawi, I can announce that The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture has a new dean with the appointment of Cooper’s own Michael Young. Michael will assume the position on April 1, 2026. 

This appointment follows a national search, which generated an impressive cohort of candidates. Many of you met the finalists earlier this fall; our thanks to all who engaged in this process. I can tell you that Michael clearly distinguished himself at each stage of the search. 

A member of The Cooper Union faculty since 2005, Michael currently serves as an associate professor and coordinator of graduate studies for the school of architecture. He is the founding partner of the acclaimed architectural practice Young & Ayata. His firm has received accolades including the Progressive Architecture Award, Design Vanguard Award, AIANY Honor Award and most recently, the Architecture Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. Their work has been exhibited at institutions around the world. A widely published author, Michael’s books include The Estranged Object (Graham Foundation, 2015) and Reality Modeled After Images (Routledge, 2022). He has taught at numerous institutions, including as the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Professor at Yale University and as the Joseph Esherick Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He was also awarded the prestigious Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome for 2019–2020. 

Throughout his time with The Cooper Union, Michael has shown a deep investment in this institution and in our mission of free education. He is uniquely positioned to build on the school of architecture’s legacy in design experimentation and our contribution to architecture pedagogy, while also evolving the school’s role as a center for public discourse in architecture to address the urgent issues of our time in New York City and globally.

Starting next semester, Michael will work with Acting Dean Benjamin Aranda and Acting Associate Dean Mersiha Veledar to begin the transition in the dean’s office. And speaking of Ben and Mersiha, I couldn’t be more thankful for their leadership throughout the search and during my initial semester here at Cooper. 

Acting Dean Aranda shared these words about Michael’s selection: “Michael Young represents the best of us. He is a dedicated teacher, inspiring architect, and distinguishedacademic, whose new role as dean formalizes the long-standing leadership he commands here among both students and faculty. I have the highest ambitions for our future together and can think of no one better to steward this precious institution forward.” 

My thanks, too, to the dean search committee members – Diana Agrest, Nora Akawi, Ben Aranda, Theodore Baab, Nader Tehrani, and Asialy Bracey Gardella. These individuals were tireless in their dedication to identify the ideal next leader to define the next chapter for our prestigious school of architecture. 

Please join me in congratulating Michael Young and extending our gratitude to Ben Aranda and the search committee. It’s an exciting day for Cooper Union and The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture! 

Steve McLaughlin 
President 
The Cooper Union

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.