NEWS A new leadership has been appointed at Umeå School of Architecture at Umeå University. New head of department is Mikael Henningsson, former head of the Department of Psychology. Sara Thor steps in as deputy head of department and Michael Gruber becomes assistant head of department.
Umeå School of Architecture has a new leadership, here together with vice-chancellor and dean. From left Hans Adolfsson, vice-chancellor, Amalia Katapodis, programme director, Mikael Henningsson, head of department, Michael Gruber, assistant head of department, Sara Thor, deputy head of department, and Mikael Elofsson, dean.
ImageMattias Pettersson“It will be very exciting to be part of the school's continued development, both in terms of running the popular architectural programme and also over time to introduce more research into the school” says Mikael Henningsson, new head of department at Umeå School of Architecture.
Mikael Henningsson is 59 years old and born in Vännäs. He trained as a psychologist at Umeå University and worked in psychiatric care for a few years, before returning to the university and a doctorate in 1999. He has subsequently researched and taught, been director of studies for the psychology programme and later head of the Department of Psychology. He is an esteemed teacher, who has been awarded both the student union's and the social sciences faculty's educational prizes.
Sara Thor becomes deputy head of department. She trained as an architect at Chalmers and La Vilette in Paris. She has previously worked as a practicing architect in a bureau in the UK and has since 2015 taught at Umeå School of Architecture, where she is the course teacher for a design studio in the master's programme.
Michael Gruber has been appointed assistant head of department. He is 56 years old and originally from Gothenburg. His area of responsibility will be education and he will also receive the role of director of studies. Michael Gruber is a university lecturer in psychology and most recently comes from the Department of Psychology, where he has worked in various roles as educational leader for more than 15 years. In 2016 he was appointed as excellent teacher.
The management also includes Amalia Katapodis, who was previously appointed by the faculty's education committee to be the programme director for the Architectural programme and the Master's programme in Architecture and Urban Design. She is a practicing architect since 2007 and has been teaching since 2011. For the past four years she has worked as a lecturer at Umeå School of Architecture.
“I am very pleased that we have got such a competent management in place” says Mikael Elofsson, dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology. “This guarantees that Umeå School of Architecture will continue to develop and the focus is now on building a robust research environment.”
“The faculty leadership has done an excellent job of finding a new management for Umeå School of Architecture in a short time, says vice chancellor Hans Adolfsson. With a new leadership in place, the work to develop the school but also to strengthen the activities on the Arts campus can continue.
Read more about Umeå School of Architecture
For more information, please contact:
Mikael Henningsson, head of department, School of Architecture, Umeå University
Phone: +46 90 786 57 98
Email: mikael.henningsson@umu.se
Mikael Elofsson, dean, Faculty of Science and Technology, Umeå University
Phone: +46 90 786 93 28, +46 70 616 93 28
Email: mikael.elofsson@umu.se