Dean Qingyun Ma to step down at end of school year


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Qingyun Ma will be stepping down as the dean of the USC School of Architecture following the end of his term in 2017, according to a memorandum sent out yesterday by Provost Michael Quick.

Ma was known throughout the USC community for the development of the USC American Academy in China, which has promoted a cross-cultural exchange in the arts, humanities and architecture, and the joint bachelor of science in geodesign between the Spatial Science Research Institute and the Price School of Public Policy.

He created his own architecture firm, Ma Designers and Architects: Strategy, Planning, Architecture and Media, in New York in 1996 and in Shanghai in 1999. Ma was recognized for his designing and building of urban spaces and buildings by being named one of Businessweek’s most influential designers in the world.

Ma was born in 1965 in Xi’an China and, according to USC Cinematic Arts’ World Building Institute, Ma graduated from Tsinghua University in Beijing in 1988 with a degree in civil engineering in architecture. He received his Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991.

Ma then practiced architecture at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. After practicing there, Ma created his own firm, MADA s.p.a.m., which has designed buildings like the Longyang Residential complex and the Silk Tower in China. He collaborated with Rem Koolhaas on the book The Great Leap Forward and also worked on the Central China TV headquarters in Beijing and the Stock Exchange Building in Shenzhen.

Ma has had experience as a visiting professor at Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University. He has also taught abroad in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and France.

The memorandum ended with praise and thanks for Ma’s contributions to the USC community and stated that Ma will return as a faculty member after his term as dean.

“I am delighted that Dean Ma has decided to remain a member in the School of Architecture’s faculty following his deanship,” Quick said in the memorandum. “He is a valued member of the Trojan Family.”