James C. Stevens has been named dean of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas. His appointment begins Aug. 15.
Stevens will succeed Peter MacKeith, who is stepping down after 12 years as dean. MacKeith will return to the faculty to focus on the school’s growing work in timber and wood design innovation. Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Jim Gigantino will serve as acting dean from July 1 until Stevens begins.
Stevens joins the Fayetteville, Ark.-based school from Clemson University, where he served as professor in the School of Architecture and as school director from 2020 to 2025. Before joining Clemson, he chaired the Department of Architecture at Lawrence Technological University, where he also founded makeLab, the university’s digital fabrication laboratory.
Stevens is a licensed architect, NCARB-certified, and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. His work spans architectural technology, digital fabrication, and design education. He is co-author of Digital Vernacular: Architectural Principles, Tools, and Processes, published by Routledge in 2015, and has written peer-reviewed papers and book chapters.
He received the AIA Henry Adams Medal for Excellence in the Study of Architecture and was a 2016 Fulbright Scholar in Albania and a 2025 Fulbright Specialist in Peru.
Stevens holds a Ph.D. in architecture from the University of Ferrara in Italy, where he conducted residency and research at Polis University in Tirana, Albania. He also earned a Master of Architecture from North Carolina State University and a bachelor’s degree in historic preservation from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
