Dean Hashim Sarkis to step down

Dear members of the MIT community,

I write to let you know that after 12 years of inspired leadership of the School of Architecture and Planning, Hashim Sarkis has decided to step down as dean at the end of June 2027. After a sabbatical, Hashim will return to teaching and research and to lead the MIT-LUMA Lab.

A transformative deanship

When Hashim, the Elizabeth and James Killian (1926) Professor, became dean of SA+P in January 2015, he spoke of the “intense research model” that distinguished MIT’s approach to design and planning education. In the years since, thanks to Hashim’s vision and superb leadership, the school has launched major interdisciplinary initiatives and expanded others, building on its strengths in design, urbanism, and media while forging new connections across MIT in areas including climate, mobility, housing, real estate, computing, and the arts. 

In 2016, the Center for Advanced Urbanism was named in honor of Norman B. Leventhal ’38, with new support that extended its reach as an interdisciplinary platform at the forefront of addressing the complex societal issues of cities. In 2022, the Morningside Academy for Design was born; by interweaving design with other disciplines, it has sparked innovative collaborations and driven new approaches to foster creativity and critical thinking in education.

In 2024, SA+P and the LUMA Foundation announced the MIT-LUMA Lab, a collaboration bringing together design, science, technology, and the arts to develop new approaches to climate and biodiversity challenges, with an emphasis on place-based research and collaboration with local communities. And earlier this year, SA+P played an essential role alongside the Schwarzman College of Computing in establishing the MIT and HPI AI and Creativity Hub, which aims to foster a dynamic community of scholars in design and computing, at an essential time in AI’s rapid development.

These accomplishments alone would be enough to define a remarkable tenure as dean. Yet over the last several years, we have all watched as the MET Warehouse, a historic landmark on Massachusetts Avenue, has been transformed. This transformation could not have happened without Hashim’s leadership. From start to finish, he championed the project, marshalling the support of donors and friends to make it a reality. An extraordinary example of adaptive reuse, the MET brings much of SA+P together in a new, light-filled home for teaching, research, making, collaboration, and public engagement – realizing a vision Hashim first articulated in 2018 of creating a “design hub for MIT.”

As a member of the MIT Building Committee, Hashim was also actively involved in decisions about the planning and architecture of the campus at large. He conceived the “One Community = One Campus” master plan to help guide the future growth and consolidation of the MIT campus.

Hashim’s devotion to SA+P’s students is unmistakable. Under his leadership, the school has achieved a long-held goal of providing its multiyear graduate programs with full tuition support, beginning with incoming students in fall 2027. This commitment — made possible thanks to the generosity of SA+P alumni and friends over many generations, and continued support in the form of philanthropy, grants, and sponsored research — reflects Hashim’s conviction that "education, even professional education, is a right, not a privilege."

Throughout his tenure, Hashim has also maintained his own thriving, vibrant architectural practice. In 2021, with the world gripped by pandemic, he curated the prestigious International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. He selected for the exhibition’s theme a simple yet powerful question: “How Will We Live Together?” The New York Times called this choice “remarkably prescient.” For Hashim, it no doubt reflected a longstanding interest in how architecture could imagine better ways of living together – how “a new spatial contract” might strengthen the social contract.

Through all these efforts, Hashim has advanced a distinctive role for SA+P within MIT: connecting technology to society through design, planning, making, and creative practice. 

Beyond his professional accomplishments, those of you who have had the opportunity to work with Hashim also know him for his warmth, kindness, and enthusiasm. His powerful optimism reverberated around the room during the opening of the MET Warehouse, when he said: “This is what the MET does. It brings us together to imagine better worlds. You can see them from here. They are wonderful worlds.”

This academic year, we will find ways to honor Hashim’s extraordinary service to SA+P and MIT. In the meantime, please join me in thanking him for his leadership – and for helping all of us to imagine better worlds.

Launching the search for the next dean of SA+P

To advise me in identifying SA+P’s next leader, I have appointed a search advisory committee chaired by Justin Steil, professor of law and urban planning. The committee includes faculty, staff, and external members; they are listed below my signature.

The committee will:

• Assess SA+P’s emerging priorities and the opportunities and challenges ahead, drawing on the perspectives of faculty, students, staff, and alumni;
• Develop a position profile; and
• Recommend up to three finalists.

If you would like to be considered for the position, please submit a CV and statement of interest to sapdeansearch@mit.edu by November 15. You may also use this email address to nominate a colleague or share your thoughts about the qualities you believe the next dean should have. All submissions will be treated as confidential.

I am deeply grateful to Justin for agreeing to serve as chair of this search and to the committee members for taking on this important work.

Sincerely,

Anantha Chandrakasan
Provost

School of Architecture and Planning Dean Search Advisory Committee

Justin Steil, Professor, Department of Urban Studies and Planning (chair)

Canan Dagdeviren, Associate Professor, Program in Media Arts and Sciences

Ken Goldsmith, Senior Director for Finance, Office of the Vice President for Research

Svafa Grönfeldt, Professor of the Practice, Morningside Academy of Design

Diane Hoskins, Global Co-Chair, Gensler

Miho Mazereeuw, Mark Hyman, Jr. Associate Professor, Department of Architecture

Caitlin Mueller, George Macomber Associate Professor of Construction Management, Department of Architecture

Mitchel Resnick, LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research, Program in Media Arts and Sciences

Jessica Rosenworcel, Executive Director, MIT Media Lab

Brent Ryan, Professor, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Skylar Tibbits, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture

Sarah Williams, Norman B. (1938) and Muriel Leventhal Professor of Architecture and Planning, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Danielle Wood, Benesse Associate Professor of Research in Education, Program in Media Arts and Sciences

Maria Yang, Vice Provost for Faculty; William E. Leonhard (1940) Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Siqi Zheng, Samuel Tak Lee Champion Professor, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Dan Delgado, Senior Director for Administration, Office of the Provost (staff to the committee)

Casey Johnson, Senior Human Resources Manager, Office of the Provost (staff to the committee)