Dean, UB School of Architecture and Planning
An internationally renowned scholar and practitioner in architecture, planning and urban design, Robert G. Shibley is passionately devoted to building institutions, traditions and programs that advance design and planning through knowledge-based place-making. Since joining the UB School of Architecture and Planning in 1982, he has served as professor in both the architecture and urban and regional planning departments, with eight years as chairman of the architecture department and appointment as dean in 2011. A senior fellow of the UB Regional Institute since 2005, Shibley assumed the role of interim director after the institute aligned with The Urban Design Project (UDP) under the School of Architecture and Planning in 2011. Shibley has led the development of nationally award-winning plans for Buffalo’s downtown, waterfront, Olmsted parks system and the city’s comprehensive plan. He has served as the UDP principal investigator on master plans for the Larkin District, Niagara Falls and Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. The city-region is his educational and research laboratory, where he combines political leadership and community engagement with interdisciplinary scholarship, planning and design action.