WSOA Fall 2021 Appointments

From left to right: Echo Theohar, Matthew Gillis, Aaron Gensler, and Cody Miner.

It is our pleasure to welcome four extraordinary full-time faculty and staff members to Woodbury School of Architecture:

• Echo Theohar will serve as Assistant Professor and Coordinator in our Applied Computer Science-Media Arts (ACS-MA) program. Echo received her BA in Design | Media Arts from UCLA, and an MFA, Fine Arts w/ emphasis in Art + Technology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has served as a community technologist and lecturer at venues such as LACMA, Women’s Center for Creative Work, Coaxial, and many more.
• Matthew Gillis will serve as Interim Assistant Professor and Building Coordinator for B.Arch and M.Arch programs. Matthew is principal of G!LL!S, an architecture and interiors design studio in Los Angeles. He is also partner at Grant Gillis, a retail and commercial architecture office.
• Aaron Gensler will serve as Assistant Professor in our B.Arch and M.Arch programs and resume her role as Assistant Chair of Architecture in Los Angeles. Aaron is a Principal at GenslerCliip, an architecture, design, and research practice based in Southern California. Prior to GenslerClipp, she held design positions at firms including Gensler (Los Angeles), Diller Scofidio + Renfro (New York), and Active Social Architecture (Kigali, Rwanda).
• Cody Miner will serve as Wedge Gallery Director. Cody is a Los Angeles-based designer and holds an M.Arch from SCI-Arc and a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Urban Planning and Design from Arizona State University. Cody will bring experience from both teaching and practice into his new role leading programs at the Wedge Gallery.

From left to right: Paulette Singley, Kishani De Silva, and Joshua Stein.

We would also like to welcome three new members to our School of Architecture leadership team:

• Paulette Singley is our new Chair of Interior Design. She received a Ph.D. from Princeton University, an M.A. from Cornell University, and a B.Arch. from the University of Southern California. Paulette recently authored a new book entitled How to Read Architecture: An Introduction to Interpreting the Built Environment. She just returned from a semester in Rome at The American Academy who awarded her the Rome Prize.
• Kishani De Silva will transition from Interim Chair of our new Sustainable Practices and Construction Management programs to Assistant Professor and Chair of the Bachelor of Science in Construction Management program. In the past year, Kishani has helped develop and pilot two new Title V Sustainability grant-supported School of Architecture programs, together with Grant Manager Christoph Korner and Activity Director Emily Bills.
• Joshua Stein is our new Interim Chair of Sustainable Practices. Joshua is the founder Radical Craft and the co-director of the Data Clay Network, a forum for the exploration of digital techniques applied to ceramic materials. Radical Craft is a Los Angeles-based studio that advances an experimental design practice saturated in history, archaeology, and craft.

From top left to bottom right: Heather Flood, José Parral, Mark Ericson, Anthony Fontenot, Branka Olson, and Megan Groth.

Additionally, we are happy to welcome the following returning members of our leadership team:

• Heather Flood, Chair, Architecture – Los Angeles (B.Arch + M.Arch)
• José Parral, Chair, Architecture – San Diego (BArch, MArch, MS Arch RED)
• Mark Ericson, Chair, ACS-MA
• Anthony Fontenot, Criticism Coordinator, Architecture (LA+SD, BArch + MArch)
• Branka Olson, Assessment Officer for the School of Architecture
• Megan Groth, Practice Coordinator, Architecture (LA+SD, BArch + MArch)

We want to thank Lara Hoad for her service as Interior Design Chair last year and we look forward to having her continue as adjunct faculty this fall.

We also want to recognize Heather Flood, José Parral, Mark Ericson, and Aaron Gensler for their steadfast leadership during the last year. They worked conscientiously and diligently this past year to make sure our returning students and faculty were heard and supported. They were also instrumental in working with our dedicated staff to help bring new students and faculty into our growing School. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.