William G. McMinn, who stepped down in June after serving 12 years as dean of Cornell University's College of Architecture, Art and Planning, has been named director of the School of Design at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami.

Associate Dean Stanley Bowman has been named acting dean of the college. A member of the Cornell faculty since 1973, Bowman will serve as dean until a new dean is appointed.

"Dean McMinn's assiduous leadership has strengthened the College of Architecture, Art and Planning and provided it with a solid foundation to meet the challenges of the future," said Provost Don M. Randel. "We wish him well in his new endeavor."

McMinn was instrumental in overseeing the College of Architecture, Art and Planning's successful $22 million fund-raising campaign, which was recently completed. He also is credited with upgrading educational technology in the college and enhancing the college's academic environment by investing in the development of junior faculty and instituting a study-abroad program in Rome.

McMinn's service to Cornell included membership on the administrative boards of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum and the Cornell University Council, the Buildings and Properties Committee of the Board of Trustees, and the board of governors of the Cornell Center for the Environment.

A respected educator, McMinn has served on the National Board of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, and in 1983 he completed a term as president of the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). He also chaired NAAB team reviews of 24 architecture programs, including those at Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, MIT and the University of California at Berkeley. He currently serves as a member of the Commission on the Future of the Architectural Profession working with Carnegie Foundation for Education.

A fellow of the American Institute of Architecture, McMinn is a recipient of the Associate of Collegiate Schools of Architecture's Distinguished Professor Award.

McMinn will head FIU's School of Design, which will offer undergraduate programs in architectural studies and interior design and graduate programs in architecture, landscape architecture and environmental and urban systems.