Taft to serve as interim dean of AAP

W. Stanley Taft, associate professor of art and associate dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP), will serve as interim dean of the college when current dean Mohsen Mostafavi leaves at the end of the fall 2007 semester.

"Having already served as an exemplary associate dean, Stan Taft is universally respected for his experience, thoughtfulness and good judgment," said Cornell Provost Biddy Martin. "We are delighted and very grateful that he has agreed to act as interim dean while we complete the search for the next dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning."

Mostafavi has accepted a position at Harvard University as dean of the Graduate School of Design, starting January 2008. A search committee will be convened soon to begin the search for a new dean.

Taft has been at Cornell since 1985 and was appointed associate dean of AAP in 2003. He teaches studio courses in painting and drawing and interdisciplinary courses on digital media and on the intersection of art and science. He has exhibited his work nationally and has collaborated with John Zissovici, Cornell associate professor of architecture, on installation, video and photography projects using digital technologies.

Taft is the principal author (with James W. Mayer) of "The Science of Paintings," published in 2000. He has conducted research into the physical properties of artist materials, utilizing analytical facilities in materials science and engineering and nuclear science at Cornell.

He has an M.F.A. in painting from Fort Wright College, Spokane, Wash., and a B.F.A. in painting from California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, Calif.

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