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School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture names director

Nathaniel Quincy Belcher, associate professor and former director of the School of Architecture at Florida International University, has been appointed director of the H. Campbell and Eleanor R. Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Penn State, effective July 1. A licensed architect and interior designer, he is the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Graham Foundation and other organizations and has received national awards from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.

On the FIU faculty since 1996, Belcher served as assistant dean of the School of Architecture from 2002 to 2006 and director from 2006 to 2008. He holds a master of architecture degree from Harvard and a bachelor of architecture degree from Virginia Tech. He previously taught at Tulane University, Ohio State University and Harvard.

"Nathaniel Belcher's background and proven track record as an administrator, teacher and designer have prepared him to be an effective leader of the Stuckeman School," said Barbara O. Korner, dean of the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture. "His skills, experience and vision will guide us toward our goal of increasing cross-disciplinary collaboration between architecture and landscape architecture and with other areas of design throughout the University."

Belcher's research and teaching specialization includes Brazilian architecture and modernism; avant-garde practices in diverse cultures; and African-American architecture, urbanism, artifacts and culture. He has done field research and presented lectures throughout the United States and in Cuba, Brazil, Lisbon, London, Panama, France and other international locations.

Belcher's work has been featured in numerous publications and exhibitions. He was one of 11 prominent artists, architects and landscape architects whose work was included in the Dresser Trunk Project, a traveling exhibition in 2007-09. Curator and architect William Williams will feature Belcher's project in a book on the exhibition.

Belcher's 2004 installation, titled "Harlem: The Ghetto Fabulous," created with Stephen Slaughter as part of the Harlemworld: Metropolis as Metaphor exhibition at the Studio Museum, received positive reviews from New York Times architectural critic Herbert Muschamp. "'Harlem: The Ghetto Fabulous,' by Nathaniel Belcher and Stephen Slaughter, tries to humanize the modern buildings of 20th-century urban renewal without erasing their history. One feature of the project envisions rolling lawns planted atop high-rise housing, for example. The design recalls successful experiments in retrofitting carried out by Christian Portzamparc on leak buildings in the same period in Paris."

Belcher is currently architectural advisor and board member for the Little Haiti Housing Association in Miami, Fla. He also serves on the American Institute of Architects' Development Program Advisory Committee and is a board member for Tigertail Productions, a presenting and producing arts organization in South Florida. He served as faculty advisor for Florida International University's participation in the 2002 Solar Decathlon, an international competition to design and construct a completely solar-powered home on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Last Updated January 9, 2015