Dear colleagues,

I am delighted to share with you that David Rifkind, PhD, has accepted our offer to be the next dean of the College of Architecture and Planning (CAP). I am confident that Dr. Rifkind will drive student success, collaboration, and CAP’s impact on the communities we serve. His appointment will begin July 1, 2025. 

Dr. Rifkind will bring an impressive track record of scholarship and achievement to CU Denver. He served as director of the School of Architecture at the University of Florida from 2021 to 2024 and has continued there as professor. Before that, he served in key roles at Florida International University, the University of Virginia, Parsons School of Design, and Columbia University, among other institutions. 

Trained as an architectural designer and architectural historian, Dr. Rifkind’s scholarship has focused on urbanism and architecture in Ethiopia. He earned doctorate and master’s degrees from Columbia University, a master’s in architecture from McGill University, and a bachelor’s from the Boston Architectural Center. His full CV is available here. 

Search committee members and other CAP constituents have agreed that, in addition to having excellent credentials, Dr. Rifkind will be a strong leader and consensus-builder for CAP. He will also be a natural fit at CU Denver and among Colorado’s vibrant architecture and planning communities. I am confident he will be able to maximize the skills, achievements, and ambitions of CAP’s exceptional faculty, staff, and students to maximize the college’s stature and impact.

Thank you to Business School Dean Scott Dawson and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) Associate Dean Faye Caronan for chairing this successful search process, and to Stephanie Santorico, Ann Komara, and Marc Swackhamer for their service in interim dean roles. Komara and Swackhamer will continue as co-deans through July 1, after which Komara will return to her CAP role as associate dean and professor, and Swackhamer will embark on a dean role at California Polytechnic State University. 

I know some of you may be away from your email during a well-deserved spring break week, but this great news just couldn’t wait. I hope that however you are spending your week, we all come back together refreshed and invigorated for CAP’s new and promising era soon to come, and for a successful rest of the semester across CU Denver. 

Pamela Jansma, PhD
Interim Provost