Professor of Architecture Kathryn Albright has been appointed associate dean for academic affairs for Virginia Tech's College of Architecture and Urban Studies. She will assume the role August 10.

The associate dean for academic affairs is an administrative faculty appointment reporting to the dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies. This position supports the dean with general college supervision and provides academic leadership and student services as well as development activities for faculty and students of the college. Among her duties, Albright will serves as college representative to University Council on International Affairs, Commission on Undergraduate Studies and Policies, University Academic Appeals Board, and various university task forces.

Albright has taught at Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture + Design since 1994 and served as Foundation Program chair from 2003 to 2015. In 2013, the Foundation Program received the University’s Exemplary Program Award for its outstanding teaching and learning environment, which employs collaborative efforts of faculty focused on the students’ first-year experience.

“Kathryn’s tireless service to students, the university, and to the Blacksburg community makes her an ideal person to step into this role as associate dean. She is an advocate for students and has spearheaded the CAUS first-year experience for incoming freshmen and is strong in counseling undergraduates in their academic needs,” said Jack Davis, Reynolds Metals Professor of Architecture and dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies.

Recently, Albright has been involved in the university’s Beyond Boundaries initiative, serving as a member of the steering committee and co-chair of the Campus of the Future work group.

Her research focuses on the multiple scales of the urban situation, particularly public and farmers markets as places for community gathering. Her studies of these types of markets began in 1998 and led her to found Friends of Farmers Markets in 2002, which has managed the Blacksburg Farmers Market since 2004.

In addition to numerous teaching accolades, she has received the 2007 College of Architecture & Urban Studies Excellence in Outreach Award and the 2014 Virginia Tech Excellence in Outreach Award. In 2010, the nonprofit group New River Community Action awarded her the Philip M. Sadler Memorial Community Service Award in recognition of her accomplishments regarding the Blacksburg Farmers Market.

Albright succeeds Sonia Hirt, who is assuming the role of dean of the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at the University of Maryland.

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