The waning of the academic year brings us once again to a point of reflection and celebration as the semester concludes. This particular end-of-semester message is bittersweet for me, as it is the last I will send as acting dean of the School of Architecture. Looking back on the past three years, and specifically the incredible work completed this semester, fills me with gratitude and optimism for the future of our school.

In a time when threats to higher education are increasing and the academic landscape feels precarious, our community at The Cooper Union, particularly in the School of Architecture, has responded with a powerful counter-narrative. We have not just persevered; we have come together and thrived in remarkable ways. Despite the uncertainties that surround us, the collective dedication, innovation, and spirit within our school have allowed us to flourish on so many fronts; our successful NAAB reaccreditation this past spring is just one example.
 
As we look ahead, I want to share some significant updates regarding leadership. We are excited to welcome Steve McLaughlin, who will join us as The Cooper Union’s 14th president starting July 1. President McLaughlin will be crucial in concluding our dean search. During this transition, IDC Distinguished Professor Benjamin Aranda will step in as acting dean, and Mersiha Veledar will continue in her role, now as acting associate dean. The School remains in steady, capable hands.

We have concluded our extensive search for a full-time faculty member in the History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture, and the search committee and I are thrilled to share that Dr. Irene Cheng will be joining us next year. Dr. Cheng is an architectural historian, critic, and educator whose research explores the entanglements of architecture, culture, politics, and the environment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She is also a founding principal of Cheng+Snyder, a multidisciplinary design practice known for instigating critical debates about politics, architecture, and the city. We are excited to welcome Irene to our community and eagerly anticipate her contributions across all facets of our curriculum and studio culture.

Our public programs continue to play a vital role in cultivating a vibrant intellectual culture within the school. This past year, Assistant Professor Ben Aranda coordinated an extraordinary series of lectures, book launches, and conversations: highlights included our collaboration with the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum on The Making Home With lecture series, which culminated in a native food and knowledge sharing event. Another notable event was Tumbados, our collaborative symposium with Storefront for Art and Architecture celebrating artist Guadalupe Rosales in a dynamic program featuring poetry, performance, panel discussions, and live music.

The Third Floor Hallway Gallery showcased three outstanding exhibitions this semester, organized by Chris Dierks. The first, AA Folios: 1986–1991, presented in partnership with The Cooper Union Library, was the second of two hallway shows featuring the AA Folios, an influential publication series from the Architectural Association in London. The second exhibition, Thank you, Herman Jessor, by Zara Pfeifer and Daniel Jonas Roche, presented projects by the late New York architect Herman Jessor (1894–1990), a Cooper Union alum renowned for designing over 40,000 units of cooperative housing throughout his sixty-year career. Exhibitions Collection: 2000–2020, the final of three hallway shows, featured original and reproduced records documenting the some of the school’s most popular exhibitions, drawn from material held by The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Archive.

In the Houghton Gallery, Steven Hillyer curated Agrest and Gandelsonas: Fabric Object II. This exhibition celebrated the profound contributions of Diana Agrest and Mario Gandelsonas, featuring eighteen pivotal projects from 1975 to 2010. As an expansion of Fabric Object curated by Michael Meredith at Princeton University in 2024, the exhibition illuminated Agrest and Gandelsonas’s distinctive approach to architecture and urbanism, while also celebrating Diana Agrest’s remarkable four decades as an integral part of Cooper Union’s faculty.

Now, to our exceptional graduating students: A new chapter awaits you, and please know that we are here to support you in every way we can as you navigate your next steps, whether they lead to jobs, graduate studies, or independent initiatives. We wholeheartedly congratulate you on two extraordinary days of thesis presentations and are excited to celebrate your graduation next week. Having had the honor of co-teaching the thesis studio in the fall, I am particularly proud of you as you reach this significant milestone.

As I conclude my time as acting dean, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the many individuals who have been indispensable to the functioning and spirit of the school during these past three years. My deepest thanks go to Monica and Shervin for their tireless efforts and unwavering support in managing our complex administrative tasks. I am grateful to Mauricio Higuera for his skillful leadership and oversight in planning our lectures and public events. Thank you also to Steven Hillyer, Caitlin Biggers, and Chris Dierks, for their dedication and precision across exhibitions, collections, and publications. Finally, my profound appreciation goes to Mersiha Veledar, who has been an invaluable partner this past year, and to the entire faculty—each and every one of you—who have served as a steadfast pillar of support, collegiality, and friendship.

Reflecting on this transition, I am grateful for the care, creativity, and commitment that define our community. I remain deeply committed to Cooper’s mission—one that shaped me as a student, as faculty, and has sustained me as acting dean. Thank you for an inspiring three years. As I look forward to new adventures, I am equally excited to see the future unfold for the School of Architecture!

Hayley Eber, Acting Dean

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