Dr. Jonathan Parker, CBU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, said the new college will house a new program in architecture that is slated to begin in fall 2012 as well as existing programs in visual arts, graphic design and digital media, and film studies.

“Mark Roberson has the management, design, and entrepreneurial skills to put together a very unique and exciting program that will capitalize on our well established majors in graphic design, art and film,” said Parker.  “I look forward to working with him this year as we put together an integrative program in architecture that will complement what we are doing in these programs and those in engineering.”

The new dean most recently served as Vice President/Director of Design with Fender Architects in Fort Worth, TX. He brings extensive experience as a design and project architect for large commercial projects including retail/service buildings and public facilities, as well as churches. His project experience also features residential designs incorporating sustainable design principles using recycled, local materials.

Roberson has held positions as a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, a teacher with the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas and as a visiting lecturer at Ecole des Ponts, the world’s oldest civil engineering school located in Paris.

He earned a bachelor and master of architecture degrees from the University of Southern California, and also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture from the University of Texas at Arlington. He is a registered architect in the State of California and is LEED certified by the American Institute of Architects.