A candidate for the new dean of the College of Design said his success in increasing diversity at his previous institutions would make him a valuable asset to the college.

David Edelman, professor of and director for planning at the University of Cincinnati, spoke in an open forum Tuesday in the College of Design. Edelman is the third candidate to be interviewed in the search for the next dean of the College of Design.

Michael Whiteford, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said Edelman has an impressive resume.

“He came to us after having an incredible life, spending much time in a handful of international sites as a professional planner, both in private industry as well as the academic sector,” Whiteford said.

Throughout his presentation, Edelman highlighted his involvement in the institutions where he previously worked.

“One of the things I’ve learned is the importance of being on university committees to understand how institutions actually work,” he said.

Edelman emphasized the importance of working with students and faculty members in order to successfully run a college.

“Students and faculty are at the center of the university,” he said. “Without their support, you can’t accomplish anything at all.”

During the question and answer portion of the forum, an audience member asked Edelman how he would take his urban background and translate it to rural Iowa.

Edelman said his experiences living in upstate New York while attending Cornell University were similar to rural life in Iowa.

“I don’t see that as a problem,” he said. “If I can move from one country to another, and one language to another, and one religion to another, I think I can probably handle moving to Iowa.”

One faculty member asked Edelman how his experience living outside of the United States has helped shape his leadership and planning skills.

“I have lived, I think, 17 or 18 years outside of the United States,” he said. “My wife is not American, my children are bilingual and we have multiple religions in our common family, so my life experience is very rich and rewarding, and living overseas and coming back to the United States, we get to see a lot of good things and a lot of not-so-good things.”

Edelman cited the friendliness and openness of those living in the United States as a good trait, but the “narrow minded and religiously intolerant” characteristics as something that the United States doesn’t think about.

Jiear Vang, sophomore in architecture – professional degree, said Edelman has her vote so far. Vang said she’s attended every open forum and plans to attend the final forum on Monday.

“I just felt that he was very involved,” Vang said. “He has a lot of international experience. I’m multicultural and it’s important to me to have a leader like that.”

Vang said she hopes the college will expand “outside of the disciplines” and offer more opportunities to study abroad and to study with the other colleges at Iowa State.

“I think he’s a wonderful speaker,” Vang said. “He has a characteristic about him that he’s just himself. He’s not trying to make people like him. He’s just going to be himself. You’re either going to like him or you’re not.”

David Edelman

1968 – Earned his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Rochester, N.Y.

1974 – Earned his master’s of regional planning from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

1978 – Earned his doctoral degree in policy planning and regional analysis from Cornell University

1978-1983 – Consultant for several organizations, including the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, Rome; Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines; and the Organization of American States, Washington, D.C.

1984-1992 – Served as chief planner and economist at Motor-Columbus Consulting Engineers Inc./Holinger Ltd., Baden, Switzerland

1990-1992 – Associate professor of energy planning and policy at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand

1992 – Principal planner for Werkstatt fur Architektur und Planung AG, Zurich, Switzerland

1993-1998 – Head of urban environmental management at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

1998-present – Professor of planning and director for the School of Planning at the University of Cincinnati

— Information from the Iowa State News Service

Open forums begin at 3:45 p.m. in 101 Design.

March 2: Christine Theodoropoulos, head of the architecture department, University of Oregon-Eugene