James C. Stevens will serve as the new dean of the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Since 2020, Stevens has been director of Clemson University’s Richard A. McMahan School of Architecture. Before that he chaired the architecture department at Lawrence Technological University.
University of Arkansas’s outgoing dean Peter MacKeith announced his plans to step down from the position last December. MacKeith’s deanship officially concludes on June 30. He plans to stay on faculty and continue his involvement in the school’s timber and wood programs.
MacKeith has been dean of the school since 2014. Recently, he was a co-commissioner for the U.S. Pavilion at the Biennale Architettura 2025.
“To serve as dean of the Fay Jones School—to work on behalf of architecture, landscape architecture, and interior architecture and design—has been an honor and a privilege,” MacKeith said in a statement.
“On behalf of the School’s students, staff, faculty and alumni, I welcome Jim Stevens to the role and to the School and look forward to working with him in the School’s continuing growth and advancement,” MacKeith continued. “Jim’s acumen, accomplishments and experience augur well for the School and university.”
Stevens’s deanship at Fay Jones will start on August 15. Between now and then, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Jim Gigantino will serve as acting dean, starting on July 1.
Stevens holds a Ph.D. in architecture from University of Ferrara in Italy, a master of architecture degree from North Carolina State University, and bachelor degree in historic preservation from Savannah College of Art and Design. Today, Stevens is a Fellow of the AIA. He authored Digital Vernacular, Architectural Principles, Tools, and Processes, published in 2015 by Routledge. Stevens said in a statement he looks forward to teaching in Fayetteville.
“The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design is highly regarded across the country,” Stevens said. “I look forward to engaging and collaborating with the School’s faculty and staff and leadership throughout the university to continue to elevate the Fay Jones School on a regional, national and global stage.”
