Posted on October 19, 2026
Post categories: Dean Faculty News People of CBE Timber
Welcome to a new academic year at the University of Washington College of Built Environments. As classes begin, Gould and Architecture Halls are once again filled with students, ideas, and the energy that comes from learning and creating together.
Whether you are joining CBE for the first time or have been part of this community for many years, I am glad you are here. Our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and partners each bring perspectives and experiences that strengthen the College and expand what is possible through our work.
This year begins with new opportunities for our students. CBE recently launched an Undergraduate Certificate in Residential Real Estate, available to UW undergraduates from any major. The program builds financial literacy, develops an understanding of housing markets and the homebuying process, and introduces career pathways connected to residential real estate.
Students will also find support and connection through our Office of Student Services and CBE Mentor Program. These programs help students navigate their academic experience, build professional relationships, and prepare for what comes next.
As CBE’s current strategic framework concludes, we will begin planning for the College’s next chapter. This is an important opportunity to clarify our shared priorities, determine where CBE can have the greatest impact, and ensure our teaching, research, and engagement respond to the challenges facing the built environment. Faculty and staff perspectives will be central as we build on what we have learned and decide how best to focus our attention and resources.
As part of that broader look ahead, a new Ph.D. task force will consider the future of doctoral education and interdisciplinary research at CBE.
Our research continues to respond to some of the most urgent challenges facing our region. The Housing Futures Center is expanding its work to develop housing data and policy tools, strengthen the evidence available to decision makers, and bring together public, private, and nonprofit partners. Its focus on housing attainability, thriving communities, and shared prosperity reflects the University’s public mission and the value of connecting research with action.
We will mark another important research milestone this fall with the launch of the Center for Timber Innovation in the Built Environment. Congratulations to Tyler Sprague on bringing the Center to this moment. I look forward to the work that will emerge from it, beginning with its first industry convening on October 15.
We also begin the year by celebrating faculty colleagues whose promotions took effect this year:
- Dan Abramson, promoted to Professor (Urban Design & Planning)
- Arthur Acolin, promoted to Professor (Real Estate)
- Shannon Affholter, promoted to Associate Teaching Professor (Real Estate)
- Christopher Campbell, promoted to Teaching Professor (Urban Design & Planning)
- Keith Harris, promoted to Associate Teaching Professor (Urban Design & Planning)
- Chris Lee, promoted to Professor (Construction Management)
- Vince Wang, promoted to Associate Professor (Real Estate)
Their accomplishments reflect the strength of teaching, research, leadership, and service across our College.
CBE will offer many opportunities to gather and connect this fall. Among them, I hope you will join us in welcoming artist, designer, and former Seattle Seahawk Michael Bennett. His work will be featured in an exhibition in Gould Gallery, while his outdoor installation, Night Chapel, is planned for Parrington Lawn. Michael will also join us for a public lecture on October 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Kane Hall 130. Together, these experiences will create new opportunities to explore how design can express identity, culture, memory, and belonging. More information and invitations will be shared soon.
There is much ahead for CBE, and we will move forward the same way we do our best work: together. Across classrooms, studios, research, and partnerships, each of us contributes to a College that prepares future architects, planners, designers, and builders while advancing ideas for more just, resilient, and connected communities.
Thank you for the many ways you are part of CBE. I am excited about what we will learn, create, and accomplish together this year.