Laurentian appoints architecture school director

Laurentian University has chosen the founding director for its school of architecture.

Terrance Galvin, a former director of the School of Architecture at Dalhousie University in Halifax, was the successful candidate.

“We are thrilled to have found someone so uniquely qualified to lead the architecture project as it progresses from dream to reality, and to help shape this important new educational institution,” Laurentian president Dominic Giroux said in a news release. “We're thoroughly delighted to have Terrance at the head of the Laurentian School of Architecture in its crucial formative stage.”

During his time at Dalhousie, Galvin was an associate professor, teaching architectural history, theory and design and receiving a Teaching Excellence Award from the Student Union.

Galvin, who is bilingual, was also an adjunct professor and research associate at McGill University in Montreal, was past president of the Canadian Architectural Certification Board and has served on numerous provincial and national boards governing architectural education and practice in Canada.

Galvin studied architecture at the University of Toronto and the Technical University of Nova Scotia, earning his MArch at McGill University and his doctorate in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.

His scholarly work and applied research have led to collaborations with communities in Peru, India, Thailand and Mexico, and his writings have been published in Canada, the U.S. and Germany.

“I'm excited about the work ahead, and impressed by the vision that is developing around this project in my first few weeks of work with our Laurentian Architecture team and the broader community,” Galvin said in the release. “A school of architecture in a contemporary urban setting is an ambitious and a vitalizing endeavour. We'll be focusing on the creative and design aspects of the building in the months ahead, as well as planning curriculum and searching for the right faculty.”

The school is scheduled to welcome the first students in September 2013, moving into a new building in 2015, and growing to 400 students and 40 faculty and staff by 2018.