Alumni Newsletter 9-17-08

Dear Tulane School of Architecture Alumni and Friends,

Now that we are past the events of Hurricane Gustav, I am pleased to report that the school and university are back up to full speed.  Students and faculty are excited about the year ahead.  Their accomplishments are a continual source of inspiration to me as the new dean, and I will be working hard to support them in every way I can.

As most of you have noticed, I am also making a commitment to reach out to alumni.  This e-newsletter is one of several strategies I developed over the summer to help with communication.  I also sent all 2,350 TSA alumni a poster of our fall lecture series as well as a letter in early July.  If you receive this e-newsletter, and did not receive one of these other items, please contact Assistant Dean Wendy Sack and she will make sure that you get a printed copy.  I am including a link to the downloadable version of the TSA poster here for your reference - we had our first lecture on Monday, September 8: Angela Brooks' presentation was a wonderful way to kick off the year - on the first day back from Gustav as well.

There are so many exciting things happening at the school - in the interest of brevity I will only highlight one more at this time.  Many of you saw that the Sundance TV Channel has come out with a remarkable 6-part series called ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL. We have received amazing reviews from places like the New York Times, Time Magazine, and numerous on-line commentaries.  If you missed it, or like me you simply want to own a copy of the full series yourself, you can (as I did) download it through iTunes.  I have already congratulated the directors, producers, students, faculty and staff involved in this effort - they are all stars, bringing national and international attention to the Tulane School of Architecture.

I want to let you know I will be conducting a series of Alumni Receptions throughout the academic year.  Invitations to alumni whose addresses are listed in various metropolitan areas will receive invitations approximately one month before each event.  Alumni, spouses, and partners are welcome to attend.  These events will give me a chance to meet you and to let you know about the wonderful things that are happening at your alma mater.  My schedule includes the following visits.  These events will generally start at 5:30 PM (unless otherwise noted on the invitations):

• DC, Wednesday, October 15. Hosted by Gensler, Bea de Paz TSA '96
• Savannah, Friday, November 8. In conjunction with the ACSA Administrators Conference
• Atlanta, Thursday, November 13. Hosted by Smith Dalia Architects TSA '79 & '78
  
• New York, Monday, November 17. Hosted by Carol Swedlow TSA '94, ARONSON'S Floor Covering
  
• Boston, Wednesday, November 19. Hosted by Rob Dean TSA '68 in conjunction with the GREENBUILD 2008 Conference
• San Juan, February 16-20. (date tbd). In conjunction with a student recruitment trip
• Portland, Friday, March 27. In conjunction with the ACSA Annual Meeting
• San Francisco, Thursday, April 30. In conjunction with the AIA National Convention
• Chicago, Thursday, June 18. In conjunction with the NCARB Annual Meeting
• Los Angeles, TBD

If there are firms and/or individuals who would like to volunteer as hosts or sponsors for these receptions, please contact me directly.

On the topic of communication, you may wish to check my dean’s blog on the TSA website from time to time.  It has been a real pleasure to pause and reflect on topics of interest.  I will be posting a blog once every two weeks or so, and these will be collected and available as a running archive on my web page.

I look forward to meeting many of you over the coming year.

With warm regards,

Ken

Kenneth Schwartz, FAIA
Dean