Posted on June 10, 2025
Post categories: Community Dean In the Media News
Dean Ken Yocom and Polly Olsen, tribal liaison to the Burke Museum and member of the Yakama Nation, at a cultural burn in Burke Meadow — part of an ongoing collaboration to steward the land through Indigenous knowledge and practices.
Provost Tricia Serio announced today that Ken Yocom has been appointed dean of the University of Washington College of Built Environments, effective July 1, 2025.
A longtime faculty member in the Department of Landscape Architecture and interim dean since October 2024, Yocom brings a collaborative leadership style, deep institutional knowledge and a steadfast commitment to advancing justice, sustainability and resilience through the built environment.
“Ken has been a thoughtful and steady leader during a critical period of transition,” Serio said. “He brings not only deep institutional knowledge but a clear vision for how the college can meet the challenges and opportunities of the future. His collaborative approach and student-centered focus will continue to strengthen the college’s impact in our region and beyond.”
Yocom’s research explores the relationships between ecological systems and the built environment, with a focus on how infrastructure, water and landscape shape communities. His leadership reflects the college’s mission to drive place-based, interdisciplinary solutions to today’s most pressing societal challenges — from climate change to housing access to public health.
As dean, Yocom will lead a college at the forefront of transformative design, planning and construction — preparing students to lead with purpose and shaping the built environments that define our shared future.