Newton D’Souza to lead doctoral programs for the College of Design

Newton D’Souza, PhD will head up a new doctoral programs unit within the College of Design at North Carolina State University, effective August 12, 2024. D’Souza will oversee the two doctoral programs offered by the college, a traditional PhD in Design program and a hybrid Doctor of Design degree.

“I am thrilled to welcome Newton to the position of director of doctoral programs for the college. With this new leadership role, he will bring strategic direction to further enhance the support of and reach of these programs,” said Dean Mark Elison Hoversten.   

D’Souza joins the university from Florida International University (FIU), where he served as an associate professor and chair of the Department of Interior Architecture in the College of Communication, Architecture and the Arts. He has previously served as the Director of Graduate Studies at the Department of Architectural Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia.

While at FIU, he helped develop the Collaboratory for Design, Environment and Cognition (CoDEC) lab. Funded by a FIU tech grant, the CoDEC lab fosters cross-disciplinary collaboration incorporating computer simulations, sensors, trackers and physical mock-ups within an iterative design thinking model.

Over the past 20 years, he has practiced as a professional architect, interior designer and educator, and has published extensively in the areas of design cognition, environment-behavior studies and emerging media environments for design. He is the author of “The Multi-Skilled Designer: A Cognitive Foundation for Inclusive Architectural Thinking,” which presents different approaches to contemporary architectural design and interprets them through the theory of multiple intelligences, using cognitive psychology to analyze the thought processes of architectural designers.

“As a land-grant university that significantly impacts educators and the broader community, I am enthusiastic about leading the doctoral programs at NC State College of Design and advancing interdisciplinary design scholarship,” said D’Souza.

D’Souza holds a PhD in architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Master of Architecture by Research from the National University of Singapore, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Bangalore University, India.  He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Ernest L. Boyer International Award for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology and Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology from the 25^th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning, an Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award and a Distinguished Teacher Award from the University of Missouri, and the Chancellor’s Graduate Student Award from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.