Yale School of Architecture professor D. Michelle Addington will depart Yale at the end of the year to become the new dean of the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, effective July 1.

Addington will be the first female dean in the UT School of Architecture’s history. Addington has been on Yale’s faculty since 2006, and in 2011 was named the inaugural Hines Professor of Sustainable Architectural Design at the School of Architecture. Addington, who has been educated as both an architect and an engineer, also holds a joint appointment at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.

“I have been very fortunate in my career to work with incredible people in many sectors and at several different institutions, including Yale,” Addington said. “This is a truly rare opportunity to lead one of the premier architecture schools in the country, and I am deeply honored to be entrusted with the responsibility.”

Addington’s engineering background includes work at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. She also received her master’s degree and doctorate in design studies and Design Program, respectively, at Harvard University.

Deborah Berke, dean of the Yale School of Architecture, had warm words to share regarding Addington’s time at Yale and her upcoming move to UT Austin.

“Addington is a good friend, an accomplished architect and engineer, and a respected and beloved faculty member,” Berke said. “While I am very sad that she is leaving, it is important to celebrate not only the accomplishment her new position represents, but also the great work she has done during her years at Yale.”

While at Yale, Addington has taught courses including “Environmental Design” and “Studies in Light and Materials.” In “Environmental Design,” students learn about heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, principles of thermodynamics and heat transfer and physics for optics and sound, while examining the application of these physical laws in creating the visual and auditory environments of a building.

Addington’s various papers on energy, system design, lighting and advanced materials have appeared in several journals, books and reference volumes such as Architecture and Design and Harvard Design Magazine. In 2009, Architect Magazine named her one of the top-10 architecture professors in the U.S.

“I am going to miss her, but I am sure we will be sharing advice and insights as fellow deans,” Berke said.

Elizabeth Danze has been serving as the interim dean of the UT Austin School of Architecture since the resignation of former dean Frederick Steiner last spring.

According to education research website Startclass, the UT Austin School of Architecture is ranked ninth among graduate architecture programs in the country.