FBE dean officially takes up post

20 October 2003

Professor Peter Murphy has been appointed Dean of the Faculty of the Built Environment at UNSW.

Professor Murphy has been acting Dean since April 2002, having been a member of the UNSW academic staff since his appointment as lecturer in the former School of Town Planning in 1982.

He held a series of positions in that School, including acting head. In 1999 he was appointed Head of School of the Built Environment and Associate Dean, Research. In January 2000, he also took up the post of Professor, Planning and Urban Development, a position he still holds.

In steering the faculty into the future, Professor Murphy says he aims to encourage more cross-disciplinary research and teaching, encourage greater and more targeted international engagement and build on the Faculty's strengths in urban-related and design research and education.

"The structure of FBE is unique," he says. "We are a single school faculty with 14 undergraduate and postgraduate programs and a mix of disciplines that cover the spectrum of sciences, social sciences and humanities subjects. We offer a unique mix of teaching and research capabilities in the built environment and a key goal is to mobilise cross-disciplinary potential."

An expert in management of growth and change in cities, Professor Murphy has authored several books and journal articles, including a new UNSW Press book to be released next month. Co-authored with Professor Ian Burnley, Sea Change is the first comprehensive treatment of the migration of people from metropolitan to non-metropolitan Australia.