A message from Judy Nitsch, Chair, Presidential Search Committee, and Vice Chair, BAC Board of Trustees:
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Dear BAC Students, Alumni,
Faculty, Staff, Administration, Trustees, and Overseers:
I am pleased to announce that Mahesh Daas, M. Arch,
Ed.D., will be joining our BAC community as the College's eighth president on
July 12, 2019.
Mahesh is a designer, a technologist with expertise in
robotics, and an experienced academic leader with a career spanning 23 years
at four universities including 14 years in higher education leadership roles.
Most recently, he served as dean of the School of Architecture and Design at
the University of Kansas, Lawrence.
In 2011, Mahesh was elevated as an Association of
Collegiate Schools of Architecture Distinguished Professor, the highest
national recognition for an architectural educator. He has received
recognition for contributions to design computing with the 2013 Association
for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) Society Award of
Excellence. ACADIA elected him twice as its president and he served on the
editorial board of the International Journal of Architectural Computing and currently
serves on the editorial board of Construction Robotics Journal.
As an admired teacher, speaker, and author, Mahesh
brings highly collaborative and inclusive leadership skills to the BAC
community. He earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Jawaharlal
Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, India; a master’s degree in urban
design from Kansas State University; and an executive doctorate in higher
education management from the University of Pennsylvania. Mahesh is also the
author of Leading
with Aesthetics: The Transformational Leadership of President Charles M. Vest
at M.I.T. (Lexington Books, 2015 & 2019) and Towards a Robotic Architecture
(Oro Editions 2018).
From the very beginning of this search, a crucial
component has been engaging with the BAC community to hear what you wanted
and needed in a leader. As a result, we were able to attract a deep, diverse,
and talented pool of candidates. You were a vital component to this process
in helping to shape the future of the BAC.
Along with Mahesh’s vision of building upon the strengths
of the BAC, his life and educational experiences as a first-generation
student and immigrant resonate with many of our BAC students. We are thrilled to be able to share this
short video introduction with you!
As he prepares to assume his new role, you can look
forward to many opportunities to engage and welcome Mahesh to our BAC
community.
Thank you for your support in this process – especially
to the Search
Committee for their
efforts – and I look forward to an exciting future.
Warm regards,
Judy Nitsch, PE, Hon. BSA
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