After leading the Princeton School of Architecture (SoA) for the past decade, Mónica Ponce de León will conclude her deanship at the end of this year. Ponce de León will return to the SoA faculty and the practice of architecture at her eponymous firm, MPdL Studio.
A new Princeton SoA dean has not been identified. The provost will oversee a process to select the SoA’s next dean, the school shared.
“Princeton and the School of Architecture are truly extraordinary. I have been lucky to work with such remarkable students, an unparalleled faculty and a dedicated staff,” Ponce de León said. “It has also been a privilege to work alongside President Eisgruber and so many other colleagues at the University.”
Ponce de León is credited with helping expand SoA’s undergraduate and graduate programs, increasing the number of PhD faculty, and steering the school through COVID-19.
Under Ponce de León’s leadership, SoA doubled the number of students participating in the undergraduate and professional master’s degree programs. SoA also started undergraduate minors in architecture and civil engineering, and in urban studies, under her tutelage.
Womxn in Design and Architecture, a student-led annual conference, was launched under Ponce de León’s deanship. The conference has garnered acclaim for spotlighting the work of Svetlana Kana Radević, Norma Merrick Sklarek, Minnette de Silva, Lina Bo Bardi, Helen Liu Fong, and others.
“I am grateful to Mónica Ponce de León for her many achievements as dean of the Princeton School of Architecture,” said Princeton University president Christopher L. Eisgruber. “She has been a dynamic leader for the School, an effective champion for this University’s values, and a tremendous partner for her Cabinet colleagues and me during her decade at the School’s helm.”
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