The New School has announced that Joel Towers has been appointed as the interim dean of Parsons The New School for Design. Towers was selected dean after Tim Marshall, who held the post for the past three years, was appointed Interim Provost of The New School. Tower’s term will begin immediately.

Towers came to The New School in 2004 in a new role as director of Sustainable Design and Urban Ecology. In 2006, he became the inaugural director of the Tishman Environment and Design Center and Associate Provost for Environmental Studies. He helped to design the new university-wide Environmental Studies degrees that are now jointly offered by Parsons and Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts. This innovative undergraduate program goes beyond natural ecology and resource conservation, emphasizing urban ecosystems, sustainable design, and public policy.