Olpadwala moves from interim to AAP college dean

By Linda Myers

Porus Olpadwala, a city planning professor at Cornell, has accepted the deanship of Cornell's College of Architecture, Art and Planning. He had been interim dean of the college since July 1998. His new appointment was approved by the executive committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees on June 24 and became effective July 1.

Olpadwala succeeds art historian Anthony Vidler and architect William McMinn as the 11th dean of the 128-year-old college, which houses programs in architecture, fine arts and city and regional planning.

"We're pleased that Porus has agreed to lead the college," said Provost Don Randel. "As interim dean he has earned the trust and support of alumni, faculty and students alike. As dean he will provide much needed continuity of leadership at a critical moment in the college's history."

Olpadwala has been a faculty member in the college's Department of City and Regional Planning since 1982. He chaired the department for four years, from 1994 through the time he became interim dean. Previously he was director of graduate studies for the field of city and regional planning (1990-92) and director of the Program in International Studies in Planning (1982-91). Olpadwala also is the chair of Cornell's A.D. White Professors-at-Large Program, a responsibility he will retain.

"I am honored and touched to be asked to serve the students of the college, my colleagues of long-standing and our alumni," said Olpadwala. "I look forward to working with all of them to continue to realize the college's enormous potential and to maintain and improve upon its stellar reputation in the face of deep-rooted changes in both professional and scholarly arenas."

Mark Cruvellier, chair of the Department of Architecture and a member of the search committee, said: "I'm pleased that someone who knows the college as well as Porus does will be at the helm for the next few years. He did an excellent job as interim dean and has the confidence and respect of the faculty in all three departments."

"Porus has gone out of his way to meet with alumni and has earned our trust," said Earl Flansburgh, B.Arch. '53, a Boston architect, Cornell trustee emeritus and former member of the school's advisory council.

Olpadwala holds three graduate degrees from Cornell: an MBA (1972), an MRP (1976) and a Ph.D. (1979). He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Calcutta in 1962.

He has taught and published in the areas of political economy, international development planning and the urban environment. Most recently he worked with IBM on an eco-industrial study related to the ecological disposal of spent computers.