U. architect joins Lawrence University as board member

Ron McCoy GS '80, University architect since 2008, was electedto the Lawrence University Board of Trustees earlier this month.

The Office of the University Architect’s duties include providing long-range planning support for land use, zoning and regional development initiatives and coordinating the construction and alteration of structures on campus.

“Because of his extensive experience, I thought he would be a good fit for it,” President of Lawrence University Mark Burstein said. Burstein was the previously University Executive Vice President at Princeton, the office that oversees McCoy's work. At Lawrence, the roles have now shifted.

Burstein said McCoy has a deep understanding of how campuses work, including how they are arranged, planned and created. He added that a responsibility of the board of trustees is to ensure that the structure of the campus not only provides the necessary physical facilities for the students but also represents the institution itself.

McCoy said the board of trustees at Lawrence selects its members according to the board’s needs.

“They try to connect with individuals who are recommended to them," McCoy said. “They have a need for a person to provide the expertise that I can provide.”

He also said that Burstein has a fantastic set of opportunities at Lawrence University and that Lawrence wanted to see if he could bring his area of expertise to the kind of work they had in mind.

Burstein and McCoy worked together for many years at the University on campus building plans, Burstein said,including the Arts and Transit neighborhood, as well as Peretsman-Scully Hall and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

McCoy added that they also co-taught a freshman seminar on architecture.They last taught the freshman seminar, FRS 169:The University: Patron of Architecture or Rapacious Developer,in the fall of 2012 before Burstein's appointment as president at Lawrence.

After several years of working together at the University, Burstein said he is looking forward to the continued collaboration with McCoy at Lawrence.

“I feel like I’ve never stopped working with Ron. He’s a close colleague that I’ve kept in touch with since leaving Princeton,” Burstein said, noting McCoy attended his inauguration as president at Lawrence.

McCoy will participate in his first Lawrence University Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 29.