A Word from Dean Richard Goodstein – September 2016

August 30, 2016

Dear Friends,

The school year is off to a fantastic start. More than 5,100 freshmen and transfer students have begun classes and the energy on campus is amazing!

Last month I hosted a dinner for all faculty in the college who earned promotion last year. This is undoubtedly my favorite event of the year as we get to celebrate collectively a milestone in the life of a faculty member. Faculty from architecture (David Lee), art (Valerie Zimany), English (Dominic Mastroianni), French (Kelly Peebles), geography (Billy Terry), history (Abel Bartley), landscape architecture (Hala Nassar and Paul Russell), performing arts (Justin Durham) and religious studies (Ben White) attended the event. As you can imagine, the conversations were fascinating and as diverse as the disciplines in attendance. I am extraordinarily proud of these faculty members and congratulate them for their career accomplishments.

Historic preservation microscopy laboratory

Last week, the long-anticipated dedication of the Clemson Design Center in Charleston (CDC.C) took place at the historic Cigar Factory in Charleston. It was a magnificent event with many local and Clemson dignitaries attending, including President Clements, Provost Jones, Mayor Tecklenburg, VP Dalton, General Counsel Hood, CAF President Garvin and many faculty, students, staff and alumni.

This consolidated space for our architecture and historic preservation programs realizes more than 20 years of dedicated work by many. The Clemson Design Center in Charleston will allow Clemson to provide design and historic preservation leadership, education and service opportunities for our students and faculty.

Seminar room at the Clemson Design Center

In addition to the Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston, which has a 27-year history, and our Master of Science in Historic Preservation program, which was formulated as a partnership between Clemson and the College of Charleston more than 11 years ago, there will be two new programs housed in the space. A continuing partnership with the Medical University of South Carolina and our Architecture + Health program will have a studio housed in the CDC.C, and a new Master of Resilient Urban Design will begin accepting students this spring in anticipation of a launch next fall.

We couldn’t be more excited about the prospects for the Clemson Design Center in one of America’s great cities.

Finally, I welcome two new program directors to the college. Cameron Bushnell, associate professor and associate chair of the Department of English, has been named director of the Pearce Center for Professional Communication, replacing Mike LeMahieu. John Morgenstern, also a member of the English faculty, has been named director of the Center for Electronic and Digital Publishing, home of the Clemson University Press. John replaces Wayne Chapman who retired in August. We look forward to continued great leadership for these two important programs in the college.

Best wishes for September and Go Tigers!

Rick